Want Better Sales Numbers? Take This Quiz!

This is an abbreviated version of the basic State of the Sales Team Evaluation that I go through with each new Sales Training client, well before any contracted curriculum is developed or taught. Have your Sales Managers (or Sales Pros) take this quiz anonymously, and you'll quickly identify some hidden weaknesses in your sales team. It's much easier to develop an effective solution when you're attacking the real problem!

1.       How many team members are at or above quota? How many on your team total?

2.       What are your team’s strengths? Prospecting, cold calling, follow up, presentation, closing, account management, referral generation?

3.       What is your team’s weakest skill? Prospecting, cold calling, follow up, presentation, closing, account management, referral generation?

4.       How have you addressed this/these weakness(es)?

5.       What are the most frequent objections your team hears? Are they written down for the team?

6.       Have you helped your team develop effective responses to these objections? Are they written down for the team?

7.       What are the weaknesses of your product line?

8.       Do you train your team on how to answer (not deflect) questions about the weaknesses?

9.       Do you study competition offerings?

10.   When is the last time you trained your team on the offerings of the competition?

11.   What do you do regularly to keep your team inspired and motivated? Does it seem to work?

12.   How often do you have team meetings? Never   Daily   Weekly   Monthly    As Needed

13.   How often do you praise team members? Never   Daily or more   Weekly  Monthly   Can't Remember

14.   How often do you correct, scold, or discipline individual team members? Daily or more    Weekly    Monthly  

15.   How often do your team members praise each other?  Daily or more Weekly Monthly  Less than monthly

16.   Do you believe your team members have enough sales materials? If no, what do they need?

17.   Do you believe your department has adequate support in your organization? If no, why not? What do you need?

18.   Once a sale has been made, are there any consistent problems with fulfillment? If yes, what are the problems? What have you done to resolve this?

19.   Does your team use a CRM? Is it within a week of up to date?

 

20.   What is your management style?

21.   Have you sought other employment within the last year? If yes, why?

22.   If no CRM, how do you keep track of and manage your pipeline?

23.   How current are your client and prospect files?  Up to date   Within a week Within a month   More than 30 days out of date

24.   How many hours per week do you work? 35-45  45-55   55-65   65+

25.   Do you have any selling responsibilities? What percentage of your time is spent selling?

26.   How many hours per week do you spend on paperwork? 5-8 9-12  3-16  17-20  20+

Look at all the answers in context of which teams are the most successful, and which are the least. What answers surprised you? Now you have somewhere to start from...  

Visit us at www.marinoconsultants.com

Why Your Sales Training Didn't Work (and how to fix it)

The good news is, it's not your fault. Mostly. You brought in a well-reviewed, high-priced training company, and they delivered a beautiful, motivating seminar to the entire sales team. Everyone loved it. And nothing changed. Sound familiar?

Think of sales training as a chain. How useful is a chain with a single link? Not very. But that wonderful seminar is just that - a single link in a chain. You need all the links for that chain to be useful. If you had all the links, things would likely have worked out better. So what are the links you need?

Pre-training: Understand that there needs to be a change to the status quo. Doing things the same way will not yield new results. Prepare upper management that they may need to let go of some processes, traditions, and ideas to make the team more effective. Change is never easy to accept, and commitment from upper management is key to success.

Survey your sales team. What are the most difficult objections they face? What internal, company-based obstacles do they believe they face? What skills do they want to learn? What support do they want from management? (This assessment will only be effective if it's anonymous, and there is NO fear of retaliation.) Take all of this information and use it to do an honest assessment of what the team is working with, and against.

Survey your sales managers. What do they see as the most entrenched bad habits? What have they done to improve the situation? Do they work from a positive coaching mentality? Or a negative scolding mentality? Do they want training? What skills would they the team to learn? How do they plan to support implementation of those skills? Add this information to the assessment above, and you'll have a pretty clear picture of what Sales thinks their problems are. Does this coincide with the results you want from training?

Gap analysis: What result are you looking for? How far from that goal are you currently? What skills need to be developed to achieve those results? Does your team want those skills? What support materials will they need to reinforce those skills? What will it take to get the sales team to want to change? How will they know when they have the skills to make the change?

Curriculum plan: Before the training is delivered, get a detailed curriculum plan, and make sure it covers all of the points you're looking to improve. Discuss the curriculum plan with managers and the trainer to make sure management will support the training. Develop a plan that reinforces training in daily work going forward.

After training: Enforce new policies and skills gently but firmly. Supply your team with resources (worksheets, gamification, webinars) to reinforce their new skills. Have each team member send their manager an email daily discussing what new skills were used, and what the outcome was. Have the managers compile this information, and coach the team for better outcomes.

Check the numbers: Which manager's team is having the most success? The most trouble? Which sales pros are the most compliant with the changes? The least? Are the most successful teams and pros the ones who are using the new skills? Reinforcement of the new skills and policies should increase over a span of several months, not decrease. You'll never know if the training worked if the skills aren't implemented.

You can implement the "after training" links in the chain now, and it will help your team build new skills. That is, if they remember the training. If they don't, request supporting materials from your trainer, and build your after training plan on those handouts and materials. The refresher may be all they need to get on track.

If the training is too far gone, accept it. It might be too late to make that last training effective, but now you're ready to make the next one fantastic.

Visit us at www.marinoconsultants.com

Keeping Management Happy (And Off Your Back!) In 2 Emails

All managers have expectations, and you need to keep your manager happy.  In sales, this happiness is often measured daily or weekly.  Some managers tell your right out what their expectations are.  Others hint around it.  Still others say nothing, and hope for good numbers.  It is important to understand what the expectations are, because they will keep you from trying to reinvent the wheel.  No matter what your manager's style is, get clear on the expectations, and adjust when they change.

Most management expectations are built on history in your market, and they’ve discovered which ratios and activities yield the desired results.  Do as they ask.  Eventually, you may discover that management isn’t as married to each activity as much as it is to hitting their numbers, and you can change tactics to get there.  Maybe you’ll discover that the only thing that works is following their formula.  The point is, the decisions you make about how to plan your work need to take management expectations into consideration, and meet their needs.  If you don’t meet their needs, you will be replaced.  It’s harsh, but it’s true.

 

A very effective tool for spending time efficiently is to keep management in the loop is to write the broad strokes of your plan for the week in a simple email, and send it to your manager.  “I have follow ups with A, B, and C companies for sales calls.  X, Y and Z have closing appointments scheduled.  I’ll be cold-calling in Bergen County in the mid-week.”  Send it on Friday night or Monday morning.  No, telling her in a quick moment in the hallway isn’t enough!  If your manager has specific expectations, you’ve told her the highlights of how you’re planning to meet them.  If your manager has no expectations, she knows what you’re doing.  And when your manager wants you to focus in a different area, she’ll write back or tell you.  You’ll know before you blow your time on the wrong stuff.

This approach also seems to keep micro-managers off your back.  Just remember to send a follow-up email at the end of the week explaining your accomplishments.  If something went badly, admit it, and indicate how you plan to remedy the situation.  This should not be in the same email as the “Plan” email!  Identify each with the specific dates they cover so you can quickly reference them over time.  Ex: “X and Y closed as expected.  The contracts are in fulfillment.  Z is shopping the competition, and has concerns about the sales agreement.  Another meeting is scheduled next week.   Cold calls yielded 6 follow-up calls in Bergen County.  Company A was a one call close, and the contract is on your desk!  B scheduled a presentation for Monday morning.  C has a closing appointment with us Tuesday.”  This simple summary shows your boss what your piece of her team is doing, and helps her make effective management decisions. 

All of this communication creates a paper (email) trail that will be helpful to you at review time, as it will be easy for you and your manager to quantify your efforts and your results.  You'll also be able to look back and see patterns emerge around certain sales approaches and subsequent success or failure. All this in two emails a week!  Get writing!  

How To Keep Your Team Motivated

It's a long-standing concern in every business: how do you keep your employees motivated to be creative and effective, day in, and day out?  It's not hard, but it is a recipe.  Like any recipe, without any of the ingredients it won't work out.

INGREDIENTS

AUTONOMY: Employees list autonomy as the top wish in their work lives, and it's what managers

fear the most.  When employees make their own decisions without going up the chain of command, they feel respected and empowered.  They also make mistakes, which make managers aggravated, and more likely to micromanage.  Where ever possible, step back and let your team make their own decisions.  If you have educated them thoroughly on the goals of the department and the company, their creativity and effectiveness will flourish.

POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT: Employees with positive relationships with co-workers are more productive, and remain in jobs substantially longer than those who list their workplace as "challenging" or list co-workers as "difficult."  A positive tone starts at the top.  Do not complain, whine, gossip, or lose your temper at work.  When others are doing it, shut it down.  Greet people with a smile, and use their name.  It works.

TRUST IN MANAGEMENT: If your managers to treat employees fairly, ask them to perform only professional duties, and take an interest in each employee's goals, trust will be built.  Each member of the organization wants to be recognized as a human being, and a quality professional.  Transparency in management and decision-making show employees that management means what they say, and does what they say. Avoid secrecy whenever possible.

APPRECIATION: Celebrate little things, like improvement on filing timely paperwork, successfully overcoming a brutal deadline, or no absences for a week after the flu tears through the office. Recognizing these moments reminds everyone that work gets done by people working together.  If there is nothing to celebrate, bring in lunch for the team to thank them for working hard in a tough environment, and sit with them while they relax and eat.  If the whole team needs to step up their performance, institute a meaningful reward for the "most improved performance."  Talk about the achievements publicly in glowing terms, and manage failures quietly in private.

FAIR COMPENSATION:  If your organization docks pay for a variety of "infractions," multiple studies show this destroys both trust and morale.  Find another way to enforce your rules.  Pay your people as well as you can and remain competitive.  Once you've helped develop their skills, you don't want them moving on to the competition for a paycheck!  Now your investment is working against you!

COMMON CAUSE:  Share successes with the entire team.  If you sign a big contract, increase your profit margin, grow your company, or any other good news, let everyone know that their teamwork was integral to the achievement of the goal.  

If you work in an environment where all of these ingredients are present, you're probably happy to go to work every day.  If you don't, you're probably looking to change jobs.  What are your employees thinking?

Is It Time To Replace Your Sales Manager?

In sales, we rely heavily on our sales managers.  They are our cheerleaders, teachers, coordinators, and team mates.  That is, they are if they're good at their jobs.  If they're bad at their jobs, they are our critics, our nightmares, our worst enemies.  Is it time to replace your manager?

Often in a sales structure, the best salespeople are "promoted" to sales manager. Sometimes it's about seniority.  Occasionally it's a question of the boss's favorite. None of these are the best way to hire a great sales manager.

The best sales managers have five primary skills:  1) They can consistently teach others to sell the product or service in a changing marketplace. 2) They are fantastic motivators of individuals and groups.  3) They always play fairly, setting a terrific example and creating a professional tone for the department.  4) They work as hard for their team as they do for upper management.  5) They would always rather help than scold everyone on their team.

If your manager doesn't meet these five criteria, all the rest of their skills really don't matter.  Daniel Pink (author of Drive, To Sell is Human, and others) explains it well.   The best performers in any sales organization take ownership of their work, feel it is important, and have the autonomy to self-manage and develop personal approaches to their tasks and environment.  If your manager can't stimulate and support these three attributes, it doesn't matter how well they know the product, how quickly they can file reports, or how well the sales force is doing today.  

Long-term success (we all want it!) comes from ownership, pride, and autonomy.  Ownership, pride, and autonomy come from being good at your job. Being good at your job comes from clear expectations, and constant fine-tuning of skill.  And fine-tuning skills comes from a supportive, objective voice confirming your strengths, and helping to develop your weaker skills.

As a sales professional, this is the boss you want, and the environment you need to do your best.  We all know it. And when we have it, we're substantially less likely to look for opportunities outside the company.  If you, the sales pro, don't have it now, it's probably time to look for an opportunity to get it. This is your career!  You want to develop as well and as quickly as time will allow.

To upper management:  I'm not saying there's no room for discipline!  (See "clear expectations" above.)  I'm reminding that carrots and sticks have gone the way of the two martini lunch.  It's okay sometimes, but it doesn't work as a primary activity. Simple compliance is out, and motivation to comply and improve is in.  If your sales team doesn't work this way, you have a problem, because the competition's team probably does.   You don't want to lose your best people to the competition!  Give your sales team the most vital benefit they can get: a terrific, qualified sales manager.

How To Get Promoted - 3 Simple Steps

In our careers few things feel as good or mean as much as getting a promotion.  We're not talking about a better title - we're talking about different responsibilities, managing staff, and making more money. We love when it happens, but it doesn't seem to happen often enough.  Why?  What is the secret formula for getting promoted?  There's no secret formula, just basic criteria.  Most of us don't understand the criteria most managers use to move people up the ladder.  

1) The Right Priorities - Sometimes it's easy to let our focus become so narrow that all we see is our own task, and we ignore all the other pieces of the process.  This habit will cost you at promotion and review time.  Managers have very specific priorities.  They want the work to come in well done, on time, and under budget.  But there are two priorities even above that: keep customers happy, and keep the team working at its best.  If you can keep the customer service component and the team component in the forefront, you'll be positioning yourself well for good reviews and possible promotion.  Be an asset to your team by exhibiting a good mood, a can-do attitude, and a willingness to help.

2) Prove You Can Do More - Most good management teams try to maximize the efforts of those on their staff, and leave you very little time for going the extra mile.  How do you show you can do more, when you're barely keeping your head above water?  You need to stop drowning and make your time more effective.  Reach out to team members whenever it's reasonable, and look for any time-saving or streamlining techniques they're using.  Streamline your own process wherever possible. Read articles and books about your industry.  Attend seminars out of your own pocket if you can.  The more you know about your industry beyond your own level, the better you'll be at seeing the big picture.  As you learn more, help your team members do a great job.  When management sees that you're the "go to" guy who can fix anything, they'll start grooming you for the next level.

3) Excel In Your Current Position - This is one of the most overlooked steps toward advancement.  If you are so focused on being in the executive suite that you think your own work is beneath you, you've missed the boat.  Managers want you to make their job easier by doing your job well.  If you can do it well, but only do it well sometimes, this is a big red flag for your manager.  The ability to motivate and manage yourself shows your boss you have focus and discipline.  Do your job well, and do it with a great attitude. 

These three steps will help you move up the ladder. Remember, your team is an important part of the process. If you get along with and motivate your colleagues, you'll increase the odds of being promoted to being their boss.