The Search for the Perfect Salesperson (Rethinking Talent)
In this episode, Bill and Bryan address the search for sales talent and how most managers fail. To be clear, this is a podcast for sales managers BUT it’s also an episode that might cause YOU to rethink your own talent. Ask yourself if you are good at these things — and where you might fall short.
- Email us at: listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com if you have other opinions.
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Leadership With Kevin Eikenberry
Leadership should be on every sales person’s mind. In this interview, Bill and Bryan talk with new author, Kevin Eikenberry, who has written a book called REMARKABLE LEADERSHIP. Listen to this podcast if you are a sales leader/manager or have any inclination to be one someday.
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The Future of Sales Training. How You Can Play.
We get asked all the time, “Where is sales training headed?” No crystal ball here, but I do see some trends that every sales manager and company president should be interested in.
As you formulate your selling strategies for the future, and sales training becomes part of that, you should look at how to deliver training so it has maximum value.
Here are some trends:
1 A lot more process work. A lot less technique work. Not saying you shouldn’t have the basic sales skills (which so few really have), but I’m seeing it become a “process world.” Get the sales process right–and make sure it’s right for the prospect–and results will flow. Most sales companies have no coherent, useful, meaningful sales process. Get one–or hire someone to help you design one.
2 More frequent training touches. The idea of having your sales team together once a year for training is absurd. The market changes daily–and the sales team that is on top of those changes–and sharing best practices, is the one that is leading.
3 Better diagnostics before you train. If you’re going to hire a professional training company, make sure they / you diagnose what the REAL ISSUES are. This requires conversations with management, with sales team members and with others who observe market problems. If the training company wants to charge you for this, pay it. It may be $10,000 – $50,000. But it’s worth it so you make sure you get return on your investment. (HINT: Diagnose the real problems, be they fear, doubt, disbelief in product, self image. You can’t change behavior unless you’re working on the real problem. Few do.)
4 More soulful approach. We call it “soulful” but you may refer to it differently. This has to do with training the heart and mind, and letting the words follow. Gone in the future will be the “company script” where the company trains it’s sales force to “say this.” We have a concept we call HIGH INTENT, which is rewiring the sales mind to think differently about the sales process–and be there to help the customer identify and solve problems. If you operate from a place of HIGH INTENT, you control the process. Tomorrow’s sales training will be about changing the thinking of the sales professional–not just changing what they say.
5 Remote Learning. Get used to it. If you have a remote sales force that comes together infrequently, then look at podcasting, teleconferencing, or video blogging to train your people. People want training. The Generation Y’ers need it and value it. But they won’t be happy sitting in a training room for 14 hours at home office. You can’t use the excuse anymore that your sales people are “all spread out.”
6 Clarity of Value. Most sales teams are pathetic at expressing the value of their company. I had a call yesterday from a bank– a well known bank. They were introducing a Payroll Product. Her pitch? “We wanted to let you know our product is cheaper than Paychex–by as much as 30%.” Someone in that bank’s corporate office would stick a pine cone up their nose if they knew that was the sales person’s pitch. That is a result of a miserable training job of helping the seller see the true value to their offer. Result. I don’t buy. And she destroys a little of the brand that they’ve spent millions building.
7 Management Coaching. In all of our training, the managers get coaching as well. This is the future. The manager must believe in, and know how to reinforce the training. The manager should always be one or two weeks ahead of his/her staff when it comes to the content to be trained. If you’re a manager and don’t believe in the training your team is getting, then say so. Because if you aren’t reinforcing it–or think you’re above it–then you’re wasting money.
There is a higher need today to train your sales team than ever. The internet, globalization, and a confused, time-constrained buyer are just a few reasons that your sales team, in order to be high performing, must be well trained.
Their remoteness should never be a reason not to develop them.
How Social Media Affects Sales People
The game is selling. But the rules have changed. Cold Calling is out. Social media is IN. Convincing and persuading is out. Community and attraction are in.
As your company sits in board rooms and talks sales strategy, then think about Social Media as one leg of execution.
Definition: ‘Social media’ (SM). SM is the interaction that people have online that creates conversations in which your company and/or products are centerpieces.
You, as a sales professional or sales manager, had best get hip to what’s happening online to your company/products/customers. And how to use this knowledge to grow your business. There are several vehicles in SM. Here they are, in no order.
Podcasts. You should have a podcast for your business (every business should have a podcast–and I challenge someone to convince me otherwise) if you have expertise about something. Your podcast will provide valuable information that your customers/prospects can use to see you as a resource for bigger problems. Talk to customers about problems you’ve solved for them. Record them and you have a podcast. Giving a speech at an industry event? Good, record it and now you have a podcast. Have a technical guru in the back room? Turn on the mic, interview him and now you have yet another podcast.
Don’t tell me you have nothing to talk about.
Plug: Check out The Advanced Selling Podcast, which is produced weekly. It’s 15-minutes long and takes us about 20 minutes to create/episode. We have about 12,000 listeners per month and it costs us about $100/month to produce and host. Where else can I speak to 12,000 people for $100?
Another Resource: Go to Podcast Tools to check out Paul Colligan’s podcast on podcasting. He does 5 minutes/week. Short but to the point.
Another Point: The iPhone will sell over 10,000,000 units in the next year. Go to your Apple store, or go to apple.com and watch the instructional video. Guess what a big part of the feature set is? Podcasting delivered directly to the phone!
Your selling strategy should be to educate your prospects to the pains/issues they have that they don’t know they have. Every selling process or procedure should do this. What better way to do this than through podcasting or internet audio where your sales strategy is to help them see their problems–and help them see YOU as a solution to them?
Blogs. While there are 40,000,000 blogs, most companies don’t see them for what they could be. If you have a website and not a blog, then you’re missing a great way to lead people to your website. But make your blog a rigorous conversation about the industry. DON’T make it about you and only you.
Ask questions. Pose opinions and ask for feedback. Create controversy by being honest. Blogs should be written by people–not by some faceless company PR person.
You can also use blogs to create Case Studies on ways you’ve solved problems for your customers. Have a new product? Take a pic of it and post about it. But be honest about it’s strengths and weaknesses. Don’t tell one side of the story. If you do, it’ll sound like it came from your marketing department–more blah-blah-blah.
Video Blogs. This includes the addition of Video to your blog site. If your value can be told easier through pictures/video, then this is a great application. Here is one that came from the Executive Learning Network. I have no idea who they are, but it looks like they have a new video blog site. I spent 15 minutes watching it. Not the meatiest content in the world, but well produced. Your ideas should be flowing by now.
RSS. This is a tough one. You’ve heard about it, but you may not undrestand it fully. Here is a link to Capture The Conversation, a blog written about new media. This post tells you what RSS is and how important it is for companies investing in the web.
Every sales person should know about RSS because it might just be the future of client communications. Period.
Conclusion
The idea is that your customers/prospects aren’t at chamber meetings anymore. They are online in their own conversations with people. If you’re a sales manager or top level sales person, then here are some questions you should address:
==’How can you meet your prospects where they are?’
==’How can you create some of those customer conversations by what you know–and educate them?’
==’How can you share your insights so your market comes begging for more–which consequently puts you in control of the sales process?
If you think your goal is to merely make cold calls and get referrals, then you are thinking in the old world. Good luck with new thinking.
The Missing Link in Sales Training (shhhh….it’s a secret)
We get asked often, “How are you different than other sales trainers?” Good question. My answer includes the Missing Link in Sales Training. For 18 years we’ve kept it a secret. Now it’s time to share. Here’s the answer:
Most sales training programs focus on two aspects of the sale’s process: saying and doing. Traditional sales training teaches us what to say and what to do. If you need more sales, make more calls. If you’re not closing enough business, try the Pending Event Close. The problem with these approaches is that they miss the one fundamental element that will exponentially increase the return on sales training investments.
That fundamental element is training sales people to THINK differently. Most sales trainers have it backwards. They teach the words and behaviors first (or only). The flaw here is that if the rep’s thinking is obscured, no word, behavior or process will ever work.
Example.
You as CEO or sales manager say: “Our sales people need to get in front of more CEO’s at our prospects.” You tell them to do it (behavior) and you give them some tips on what to say.
Problem: YOUR SALES PEOPLE ARE FRIGHTENED TO CALL CEO’S. THEY ARE INTIMIDATED. THEY FEEL INADEQUATE.
Your sales training program had better work on that problem first. For a sales training program to be successful, its content must be heavy with thought- changing strategies.
If you change how you think, the words and behaviors take care of themselves.
If You Must Make A Cold Call…
As a trainer I get these questions all the time: How do I make a cold call? Should I be making cold calls in the first place? Do cold calls work?
I must be honest–I hate ‘em. But if you must make cold calls here are some tips I gave to a client last week as he posed the questions above.
[Head Right]. My fave author, Stuart Wilde, says, “expect nothing. Then you’ll never be disappointed.” Cold calls are no exception. Occasionally, I’ll be driving by a new business and I’ll pick up the phone to talk to the CEO, just to keep my skills sharp. My odds grow with my detachment. I have absolutely no expectation of him picking up the phone or inviting me in. When I’m detached I come across differently–and more inviting. Strange paradox isn’t it? Like a friend says, “the best time to get new business is when you don’t need it.”
[Techinque Right]. Be vulnerable. Don’t be so buttoned up. Tell the truth. It’ll set you free. Say, “John, this is a long shot (it is). I saw your name on a list (if you did) and wondered if I should even call you (you probably had this thought). I have no idea if what I do would have any value to you (you don’t at this point so why assume?). Rather than assume it did or didn’t, I thought I’d call you, tell you the kinds of problems we solve and then you tell me if we should talk (pretty vulnerable, isn’t it?).”
[Intent Right]. Your intent on these is to do one thing and one thing only–determine if it makes any sense to talk further. That’s it. It is not to impress him or get him to ask you over. Keep your itent true and you’ll be more attractive if you must make these calls.
If you’re a sales manager overseeing a team making cold calls–and their performance is awful–then check out their intent. If it’s about “getting appointments” or “pleasing the manager” it won’t work.
Better than cold calls…
Even better for your new business development is a good ‘referral program.’ Begin thinking leverage–how do I use my current clients and associates as a sales force? How can I help them refer me to other prospects or other referral partners? Asking those questions–and coming up with answers–will make cold calling irrelevant. But if you must…there you have it….
