Sales Training Blog | Colleen Stanley

We have sent men and women to the moon and we can e-mail across the world. So why can't we figure out how to manage and lead sales teams? One word: process. Most companies operate without integrating three key processes needed for building high performance sales teams:
1. A hiring process.
2. A sales process.
3. A management process.

I often use (and overuse) athletic analogies to make my point in building high-performance sales teams. I believe the world of athletics has done a better job of establishing and using processes in building top-performing teams than business has in building top-performing sales teams.
Let's examine the three processes.

Recruiting (hiring):
Top sports coaches are disciplined in their approach to building teams. They have determined their "need to have" versus "nice to have" criteria. For example, my nephew plays pro football for the Carolina Panthers. While Bruce was in college, the scouts were not willing to sign him until they were convinced that he could reach 300 pounds. Bruce was a great player, which was nice. However, the NFL is disciplined about its need to have 300-pound players.

Many owners and sales managers have not determined the "need to have" for excellence on their teams. Do you need someone with a finance background? Do you need someone who has built a sales territory from scratch? Do you need someone who thrives on new business development versus account maintenance?

Sales managers often settle for nice instead of need. The result can be mediocrity -- not a great strategy for growing companies. Be disciplined when identifying your "need to have" in building your sales team:

1. Hard skills - If you are selling a highly technical product, you may need to have someone that possesses the technical knowledge in order to succeed in your business. You may need someone with major account-selling experience due to your customer profile.

2. Competencies - Identify key competencies needed for this specific position. A highly competitive territory may need a person with tenacity, resilience and initiative. An established territory may need high relationship attributes.

3. Behavior style - Determine the type needed at this time in your company. Do you need a salesperson with a high sense of urgency or one who will work at an even, steady pace?

Playbook (sales process):
"I didn't hire a rookie. I expect them to know how to sell." The is second area of breakdown in building high-performance sales teams: no sales playbook or expectations for sales excellence.
What would happen if Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan allowed each of his players to run his own playbook? There would be a lot of running around, with few touchdowns.

It looks the same in business. Sales representatives are running around, calling on unqualified prospects and not accomplishing the goal. Because a sports team has a playbook, coaches can look at post-game films and determine what plays worked, where breakdowns occurred and what to focus on in practice.

Without a sales playbook, the sales manager doesn't know where the sales representative needs to improve or what part of the sales process is not working. A sales process that worked five years ago may not work today.

If sales managers want to build high-performance teams, they must take time to document the company's sales process. This may be a four-step or a 10-step process, depending on the industry and product. Creating a template of a sales process can often take a full day of brainstorming with your team. You must identify and start building best practices in three key areas: activity, knowledge and skills.

What is the activity needed to build and grow business? What are the necessary steps in the sales process? What knowledge is needed for effective client management? If you are not willing to document, be ready to settle for a lot of running around with few touchdowns.

Coaching (sales management):
Training and coaching skills are essential to growing people and teams. Sales managers often get stuck in their manager role and spend too little time in their training and coaching roles. This is the equivalent of a sports coach spending time in his office during basketball practice.
Sports coaches are excellent at having a playbook and making sure their teams execute it. They accomplish this through drills, practice and more practice. They understand that top-performing teams know the plays so well, they can execute without thinking.

Sales managers often receive pushback from their teams when it comes to running practice and drills, i.e. role playing. The excuse given by the team and accepted by the sales manager is "it is not real."

My response is the same: "Neither is basketball practice, but it is as close as you are going to get to the real thing. Stop practicing in front of your prospects." Start running practice sessions with your sales team. Managing numbers and dealing with operation issues are important. However, I haven't seen a sales team improve skills from either of those areas.

Practice sessions can be held at sales meetings, one-on-one coaching sessions or field coaching during a sales call. The point is to let your team know that yours is a culture of continuous learning and improvement. After all, NFL players show up every day for practice, and they have been playing football for years.

Hire the right stuff, build a sales playbook and coach your team to the next sales Super Bowl.

Good Selling,

Colleen Stanley
Cheif Selling Officer, SalesLeadership, Inc.

Labels: "sales process", "sales success", "Sales Success" "price shopping" "price objections" "sales activity" "how to succeed in sales" "sales training" "sales training programs"

“My sales team is getting price shopped. The only way we get the business is to give a discount. Margins are eroding.” All of these statements are pains expressed in good times and bad. The current recession has added pressure to these pain points, testing even the most seasoned sales professional.

So how do you get beyond the price game? First, quit blaming external factors. Jim Collins, author of “How the Mighty Fall,” identified that companies in Stage 3 of failure blame other people or external factors rather than confront the frightening reality that the organization might be in serious trouble due to their own denial. The reality is your sales team might be the problem, not the economy. Here are three areas to examine, confront and change:

1. The Sales Activity Plan
This is all the activity that leads to an appointment. Many organizations make the mistake of measuring appointments, not activity, and end up working on a lagging indicator which often leads to empty sales pipelines. Put a number to each specific sales activity so your team knows if they are winning or losing; i.e. 4 networking events per month, 6 influence meetings, 5 introductions given for referral partners and clients. Empty pipelines always lead to desperation and discounting. The more robust the sales pipeline, the easier it is to execute good selling and negotiation skills. Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington shares what his Dad once told him, “Do the work so you can do the work you want.” Sales professionals still winning business at full margin have consistently done the work for years.

2. Does your organization deserve the business?
When is the last time you have done business with your company? I heard Diane LaSalle, author of ‘Priceless’, speak two years ago. She shared the case study of a spa that engaged her firm to help improve new and repeat business. Diane’s firm set out to determine if the spa deserved the business and documented every step of the customer experience with the spa. The first disconnect they noted was the difficulty in finding the spa. The sign was hidden and her team drove by it six times. (What do you think the frustration level is for the typical customer trying to get to their appointment on time?) The second disconnect came when checking in for their luxury appointment. The counters were extremely high, requiring most women to get on their tip toes to even make eye contact with the receptionist. Getting the picture? At your next sales meeting, run through a detailed discussion of each step of your sales process and rate the client experience on a scale of 1 – 10. Confront the reality. Would you do business with your organization at full price?

3. Your Teams' Ability to Persuade, Influence and Negotiate
Many sales managers make the mistake of focusing their time and energy on training sales skills. Then the salesperson gets in front of a professionally trained negotiator and buckles like a paper cup. The reason is not lack of knowledge. The reason is the salesperson’s mindset.

My first negotiation workshop was over 15 years ago. The number one thing I took away from the instructor was: “If you can’t walk, you can’t talk.” (By the way, it’s easier to walk with a full sales pipeline.) The instructor’s point was that you must be mentally ready for negotiations before any skill training has meaning. Mindset means checking into your sales team’s value of themselves or your services. You can’t give away something you don’t have. If a salesperson doesn’t feel they are of value, why should the prospect?

Once the proper mindset is in place, focus on skill training. Salespeople have a bad habit of trying to convince the prospect of the value of solving the problem. Stop! Put the responsibility of solving the problem on the prospect. People believe their own data and a good salesperson facilitates that type of sales conversation. “What value is the organization putting on solving this issue? Is solving this issue in the top five priorities for the company? What happens if we are having this same conversation in a year?

Take a hard look at the sales activity plan. Ask the tough question: do we really deserve the business? Get the right mindset and skill set to sell beyond price.

Examine and confront the reality. Is it the economy or your sales team?


Good Selling!

Colleen Stanley
CSO – Chief Selling Officer

PS. Pick up Jim Collin’s new book. It’s a good read.

Labels: "Sales Success" "price shopping" "price objections" "sales activity" "how to succeed in sales" "sales training" "sales training programs", sales