Every organization aspires to have a professional and highly effective team in achieving sales goals, while marking a clear differentiation from similar actions of its competition.
However, as consumers we can appreciate that reality is not close to such a valuable aspiration in many cases…
In order to provide valuable resources so that you can configure your SALES "Dream Team", from this article we start a series that will provide you with very specific topics, rich in experiences and effective suggestions to analyze, adapt and apply in your organization. This time we will start with:
Part I: Your sellers transmit your image, and we will continue later with:
Part II CONFIGURE YOUR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT METHOD
Part III. WHAT MOTIVATES AND STIMULATES TOWARDS A HIGH PERFORMANCE
Part IV WHAT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES SHOULD KNOW AND DO
From the number V. of this series of articles and in the following you will suggest the topics to include through a new form that we have created and that you will access from a new BUTTON on our traditional Sales Articles page
In this way, you can guide us to complete this series, and also in future topics, according to your requirements so that you can find here the articles "made to measure" that benefit you the most.
Your sellers transmit your image
The well-known saying "tell me who you are with and I will tell you who you are" applies without exception, but with far greater repercussions than what is commonly taken into account.
The seller not only performs a vital productive action for every business. In every act and contact you make with your current and potential customers, you are representing the company, its brands and products or services.
Every day, each and every one of your representatives is the ambassador for your company. And in this regard, what type of ambassadors do you think you need to exercise efficient representation?
Based on your response and actions consistent with it, it will be what they really manage to represent, regardless of the results they get.
When this aspect is not taken into account with the importance it truly deserves, a series of organizational complications and results achievements arise, difficult to detect and also to be able to reverse it.
The only truth is what your interviewees, prospects and clients actually perceive. According to the role or role that each one of them plays, and to the satisfaction that it provides on a daily basis, it will contribute significantly to highlight its image or to discredit it.
The latter is not easy to detect, unless specific market research is carried out regarding the levels of satisfaction provided. Otherwise, its detection occurs when it is too late to provoke a favorable change reaction.
The first step that avoids this unwanted situation is related to the profile of representatives that the company has. It happens that there are many potential candidates to join a company, but only a few can meet the profile qualities that each company really requires.
The key is especially to take the necessary reflection and analysis time to define what would be the ideal profile for each particular case.
This action is not always carried out for different reasons that are not relevant. But this does not respond to the fact that having good representatives is key to the success of any business.
According to their performance, it will result in the initial acceptance that will provide the necessary foundations to generate a cordial environment, of trust in their arguments and suggestions to provide them with differentiated satisfaction with respect to their competition in the market.
When this does not happen, inappropriate sales performance is caused which is not the responsibility of the seller.
On the contrary, the responsibility lies exclusively with those who incorporated it and direct it.
What the client expects from his representatives
Describing this important aspect clearly and objectively contributes enormously to starting the path towards a truly positive change characterized by appreciable differentiation.
Each company has a target of clients to obtain, develop and preserve satisfied in its stock market. In the descriptive analysis of your needs or problems to be solved or satisfied with the organization's offer of products or services, there is a clear and specific level of demand that must be met beyond your expectations (strategic differentiation)…
By satisfying it for the quality of the representative, it is possible to make a successful first contact and then generate the proper environment for the development of any analysis that leads them to make their best initial and future purchase decision.
In those cases in which the profile of a certain representative does not coincide with said expectation, we are faced with a lack that will hinder any initial or subsequent action. To materialize the desire, the effective sales action with them will be one that responds beyond their expectations, for which each entrepreneur must establish the profile with which they aspire to incorporate and develop their representatives.
The ideal profile is not a utopia.
The ideal profile represents an indispensable element for each organization and constitutes the detailed description of the qualities required for the performance that each company expects to be able to be exercised in order to be successfully represented.
Counting on this, greater precision and time savings will be achieved in the recruitment and selection process, while avoiding recurring errors that cause costly turnover in the sector, not only in terms of money but also in terms of image damage. also involves.
In its detailed development, different aspects must be specified to recruit the best potential candidates from the labor market, acting as an effective filter that allows those who do not meet these requirements to be ruled out in the following stages of the selection process. And this is valid both to objectify the management by a company manager and also in the case of requesting the recruitment and selection process of a Human Resources consultant.
In its content, it must be specified which or which aspects may be exclusive or non-exclusive. For example: "possess a fluency in fluent oral expression" may be a "non-negotiable" aspect, while "exceeding the maximum age required" could be a "negotiable" subject, depending on each circumstance. Among other important aspects to consider we must point out "their potential for personal and professional growth".
This should establish whether you have concerns and predisposition to evolve, capitalizing on everything the company can provide you in initial and continuous training, as well as in the permeability regarding the suggestions or corrective signals to its performance by your supervisor or manager.
The conclusion that we can reach on this developed topic refers to "the essential is invisible to the eyes." The inability of the supervisor or manager to be with each of their representatives to shape their quality of management according to the criteria desired by management requires certain decisions and actions to be taken that significantly minimize the risk that inappropriate representation represents.
In each market there are many examples of wonderful products and services with an extremely auspicious prospect of success that fell by the wayside, many of them for not having this issue resolved.
Once this stage of profile definition is completed and before incorporating the candidates "tailored" to the desired ideal, there are other aspects prior to the start of their implementation that need to be resolved so that we can aspire to the highest level of initial effectiveness possible in their performance.
How to set up an excellent sales team and the meaning of a certain generation of sales results.
Configure your effective management method
The effective method of management represents the way in which the commercial management establishes that the actions must be produced so that the highest efficiency and productivity are produced in the actions of each and every one of the representatives.
This method defines in detail and with a clear orientation of the time it takes to carry out each of the activities assigned by the representatives and their manager that are their own. Among these actions, and by way of reference, we can point out the following:
- Consistent search for qualified opportunities to sell development matches and operations conciseness; response to calls from clients and prospects; various administrative tasks; attention to claims and problem solving; travel and waiting times; reporting, administration and management planning; tasks formative; etc.
Despite being a fundamental aspect of directing any sales effort, many organizations leave this important responsibility to the personal interpretation and experience of the representatives. By proceeding in this way, it is not noticed that this is diluting the sales productivity that needs to be obtained and that is obviously required later but which is only achieved in a few individual cases by any sales team.
Experiences observed in management consulting
The disparity of management styles in each organization is very significant. This is meaning that, although there is a certain generation of sales results, its achievement and the time it materializes may be reflecting an important aspect to analyze. Precisely, from the applied management method the following reflections arise that do not always find a clear and objective answer:
Could we have sold more? Or how are all team members empowered in a homogeneous way to achieve maximum productivity in sales? Although it is known that each representative has her own personality, when this and her own experience is what determines how to achieve her sales results, we are facing the most notorious consequence of the absence of «an effective method of management».
What are the symptoms to detect it?
There are two aspects that are easily appreciated and that by themselves favor their immediate detection. This occurs when:
- 80% of sales are generated by only 20% of the team members; and when 80% of said results occur in the last days of each month.
Each organization has one or more effective management methods. The ideal, although not always possible, is to develop them after establishing the Business Plan and before incorporating the representatives and managers of the structure. In this way, those who enter will clearly have what is expected of the management to be carried out and, more importantly, the way in which they must proceed to achieve their goals is defined.
In the case of companies in progress, it can only be carried out based on a diagnostic objective of the sales strategy in application and, according to the aspects surveyed, proceed to redesign and implement the most effective method that covers all the actions and responsibilities of its members.
Putting each representative into office without these minimal and indispensable resources is starting the path of success on the wrong foot and what can only be corrected in the future only at the cost of higher expenses and perhaps irreparable damage due to mistakes made in a bad praxis of its activity with the wasted possibilities in the market.
What motivates and stimulates towards high performance
As described in several previous articles, those who sell for their companies are exercising two clearly identifiable roles:
A role of representativeness. This means being the visible face of the company and its offer to each of the potential market opportunities.
A productive role. Referred to the achievements in terms of results that you must periodically obtain to reach and exceed your goals, due to your applied knowledge exercising the first role.
Unfortunately, the importance of the first one is usually overlapped by the other, no less important aspect. And the experiences as consumers constitute sufficient proof of this.
The moral values, the strategic values, their knowledge about their offer and that of their competition, their induction and negotiation skills and abilities to achieve their achievements in a consistent way, are reflecting to us the capacity that each individual that represents the company and its products or services must possess.
Erroneously believing that this will come with each representative as a result of extensive experience is the first mistake made in applying these strengths. The experience alone does not exclude the vices with which they usually accompany their management and the only way to avoid them is to detect them in a formal training stage before they spread to the detriment of each contact they will make daily.
With the purpose of contributing experiences that have the best representatives for each company, the inevitable steps that allow achieving the best representativeness are described below. Because that is really what it is, the basics of a sale in quantity, quality and consistency.
The first key requirement corresponds to having the best sales representatives for the type of product, service, brands and company philosophy.
To achieve this, it is necessary to reflect and write a selection profile, always before starting the recruitment and selection tasks.
When this requirement is not applied, what is observed in the team is the presence of a few sales "stars" (20%) that achieve 80% of the objectives. And while they produce month after month, the rest only accompany them with excuses that do not justify their permanence in the group. What is not explained is the fact that they subsist in the company more than necessary, perhaps waiting for their management for a miraculous change that will never come.
The essential knowledge
Always keep in mind that the more and better prepared your representative is, the better and higher your sales will be.
Once the best representatives are available, which are detailed below at different points, they constitute the processes in which to make the contributions of resources that each of them must receive "without exception" in order to become a worthy representative of the company.
Induction. This process prior to initial training seeks to immediately identify each representative with the company, put on the shirt and want to defend them, knowing the fundamental aspects to move safely and efficiently from the first days of their entry. It is characterized by providing each employee with the following knowledge to achieve their identification with the company, its values and standards: the history and trajectory of the company; your brands; its mission, values and vision; the "rules of the game" to exercise their management freely and responsibly; its products and services; competing companies, brands and products in the market; administrative tasks; the people with whom you will connect daily and also the rest of the organization.
Initial training. In this stage, the concepts, foundations, abilities and skills necessary for immediate effective management will be provided at the end of it. (For more information, see Professional Sales Training) An immediate start will be achieved by representing the company with dignity and generating consistent and quality results from the immediate initial term of its sales management. The key aspects to provide: concepts, foundations and key principles for professionalized sales management; effective method of management; knowledge of product (or service) in terms of sale; prices, payment conditions and discounts to be applied without authorization from the superior; professional techniques to increase its effectiveness in closing operations; post sale procedures;registration method of efficient management and administration of your productive time.
The present description is merely illustrative. The true description will be the one that each company requires according to its particular and exclusive operational characteristics.
As reflected in the results of our 2nd Survey on Professional Sales, (see article How those who conduct the sale think) the responsibility for this does not lie with the representative but only with their superiors.
Who taught them how to sell and how can it be ensured that they are not applying the vices that they contact daily and that are not appreciated in their selection interviews?
What motivates and stimulates towards high performance
At the time of establishing what or which are the aspects that really motivate towards a high performance in sales management, it is interesting to analyze the following aspects gathered in numerous management consulting actions.
We are referring to aspects of form and substance inherent in the actions that each sales representative must take.
The former belong to the area of technology applied to management that the company requires to carry out effective and efficient management. The latter are closely linked to the methodology of its application, according to the beliefs, values and principles of its directors and managers.
Each of them synthesizes a concept and a foundation that supports it, as described below:
Holding meetings to harangue and transmit discourse stimuli only, without a correspondence with perceptible events with everyday reality, only results in a meager or uncertain result. On the other hand, when what the management believes and expresses supporting its expressions with facts, they generate one of the greatest possible stimuli to obtain. This occurs especially when it is closely related to the expectations of the team members.
What managers expect from their representatives is what will determine the success they obtain through their management.
There are no bad sellers but the managers who incorporate and keep them as representatives of the brand, the companies and what they offer. The key is the level of management that each company has, its professional suitability and its experience to surround itself with capable people and with potential for growth.
If they only pretend to have “swallow” or “fuse” vendors and they live in an environment characterized by high turnover, we are facing a scenario that will never lead to a successful outcome for the company for the most wonderful products or services it has.
The sales management method. The rules of the game. Justice in its fulfillment.
The existence of an Effective Management Method (see Part II) is what each representative must learn, within an environment governed by the "Rules of the Game".
They clearly describe the "how" of each action with its corresponding responsibilities, rewards and punishments. Its fair application and permanent updating is what contributes to an organization operating autonomously and independently, but fundamentally with responsibility in achieving the goals to be achieved.
The rules of the game must reflect what is sought in terms of quality in customer service, satisfaction and apply the penalties provided for in them without exceptions for those who do not comply with them. This sense of justice well applied is the responsibility of the management and its management. In this environment of clarity in the "what" and the "how", each one will be able to develop their maximum capacity in this sense and with total security, achieving what is really expected of them.
The sincere concern and dedication of managers to have an efficient team of professionals.
It refers to the real concern in improving the level of performance and performance of the team, using the best resources they can access to achieve it. The postponements, the indifference or the demonstration contrary to this aspect, is always perceived by all the members who perform accordingly and exclusively to their particular interests.
The way to measure and evaluate the performance of each and every one of the team members.
Based on what factors will measure the performance and performance of salespeople and managers? What can each of them require during their evolution in the company?
The objectivity placed on the applied method that allows evaluating and comparing the performance of its members, constitutes the indispensable element to complete this important aspect. It refers to the Sales Management System that is implemented and used, with full knowledge of the representatives so that the objectivity of the aspects that are taken into account for their management control evaluation is validated from the beginning.
The remuneration system and the punctuality of your payment.
Many companies often promise wonderful commissions and fabulous prizes or rewards to keep their representatives' morale and encouragement towards better results high. But if it is not a clear, simple, attractive system with precise and punctual perception, it generates a state of disappointment that is difficult to reverse.
Communication is key to the team climate and to updating the competitiveness of the product or service offered.
Taking into account the comments that are collected in each market contact constitutes one of the most important information that managers have to improve their product or service and keep it differentiated in the market.
In companies where the vital management of the sale is not valued and therefore this aspect is not applied, there will be a broken bridge where the possible opportunities for better sales results and a better positioning of the products or services offered will be lost.
Appropriate and effective training, initial and continuous, represents the highest return investment in sales and positioning.
Taking very experienced salespeople mistakenly believing that this obviates any investment in their training is an error that is not detected until it is too late to react.
Who taught them how to sell and how can they ensure that they are not applying the vices that they come into contact with on a daily basis and that they are not appreciated in their selection interviews.
On the contrary, by providing them with the initial training that provides them with the initial efficiency to begin efficient management and providing them with complementary training to improve their performance, not only will the highest levels of productivity be achieved, but the vices that can generate results will have been filtered, but with serious damage to future sales to damaged customers.
In this aspect, motivation arises when the representative perceives that there is an investment in their professional training by the managers of the organization, which increases when it is "tailored" to what they must do and apply daily in their management and provides you with greater income consistently over time.
There are other aspects that are more specific and valid for each organization.
Regarding the statements here, one may believe or not believe, agree or disagree. But something should be understood above all the positions that arise and those that are totally respectable: "those who believe in them and apply them by their own conviction and experience, today are in a differentiated and prominent position over their competitors in their respective markets".
© Copyright 2002, by Martín E. Heller
