I am sharing this article with you because I believe that Chuck has it right.  There is a great deal of leverage in how and where you spend you the limited coaching and development time as a sales leader.  Each type of sales person below requires a different time and intensity commitment in your coaching.  I am not sure if the four buckets that Chuck chose are the right four, but I think that his analysis of the importance of analyzing the players on your teams is on-target.

Author: Chuck Mache

Have you ever closely examined why some people are wildly successful at selling, meeting and exceeding every goal placed in front of them, while others lack either the self motivation or certain key skill sets to get them to their next level of growth and performance? After all, they all have the same product, the same tools, and the same compensation structure. They’ve all been through the same sales management-training program. In my experience of 25 years selling, building sales organizations and leading and managing thousands of salespeople, the answer has to do with the fact that virtually all sales’ organizations are comprised of four different kinds of salespeople:

1. The Performers – The Top Producers

These high achieving sales executives are the best at bringing in the numbers, but chances are that you spend a fair share of your time cleaning up her messes. Seems like they’re either sky-high or down in the dumps. When the performer is down, they are out of their selling zone, and productivity comes to a standstill. But when the performer is up, look out world!

2. The Professional – Another Top Producer

This top producer is very consistent, a total team player, even tempered, patient, and consistently bringing in the numbers. Professionals are also part of the elite members on the sales team, but they seem to be missing some opportunities that would catapult them to super stardom if they made some slight changes to their selling game. Instead, they stick to self-proven conservative approaches.

3. The Caretaker – Stuck In A Major Comfort

These are the sales executives that are simply stuck in their lackluster comfort zones—giving you a solid month about every third month, or giving you about seventy percent of what they have all the time. They have the potential, but they’re consistently mediocre. You just can’t get them to perform the difficult tasks that it takes to produce at top levels with any regularity. Worse yet, they’re passive aggressive. You say to yourself, “If I could only wake them up, they’d be right up there with the best.”

I was giving a speech on “Four People, Four Paths” to a leading company in the California real estate industry where I was emphasizing the importance of knowing exactly who you are. While I was quoting my book The Four Kinds of Sales People and explaining in detail the struggles and breakthrough opportunities for each of the four kinds of sales people, a woman in the audience yelled out, “Oh my God, I’m a Caretaker!” The crowd laughed and I congratulated her on her honesty and pointed out to her (and others who were not so forthright) the tremendous opportunity that existed if she made the conscious decision to change and begin doing the difficult things that it takes to produce top results on a consistent basis.

4. The Searcher – The One That Belongs In Any Career But Sales

All sales leaders have made some bad hiring decisions that result in sales reps that just don’t belong in sales. They perceived a sales career to be easy and they were wrong. Producing top sales is hard work. These misfits are consumed with fear, and if truth be told, they honestly hate sales. They have no real intention of making the necessary changes to be successful. You’re better off helping them find more fulfilling careers.

My point is that while the individual make-up of sales forces may vary, there are always only four kinds. Management’s goal is to get the best to keep getting better while building a team with as many top producers as possible. That means management must influence those that are “stuck” in their comfort zone to break through to the next level. That means management must perform the unenviable task of helping those that don’t belong to find other career paths. In my experience, management gets too preoccupied with these two challenges and neglects the opportunity to get their top producers to reach for their next level of achievement. They have more potential. That’s why they’re the best. And can be even better.

If you want sales to improve, particularly in highly competitive sales environments, then leaders must create a growth-oriented atmosphere that thrives on constant improvement, regardless of market conditions. By the way, that means leaders and managers must also be striving to break through to their next level as well. Sales is about creating and sustaining momentum, and then creating even more of it. Consistently.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/sales-force-management-leadership-increase-profitability-by-understanding-your-sales-team-46023.html

About the Author:

Breakthrough mentor and sales guru, Chuck Mache, President of Chuck Mache Communications (http://www.ChuckMache.com) has more than 25 years experience in selling, managing, building and leading sales organizations regionally as well as internationally. In his Brian Tracy endorsed book “The Four Kinds of Sales People” Mache uses his transforming knowledge and expertise in building heavy-hitter sales organizations to deliver an inspired parable that identifies exactly how and why sales people excel – or don’t. Get his book today at http://www.thefourkindsofsalespeople.com/PR/ and increase your organization’s productivity, and profitability.

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Put yourself in this scenario: You’ve just been hired as the new sales team leader – vice president of sales with a charge to turn around a stagnant and seemingly unmotivated team smack dab in the middle of the most challenging economic times in the past half century.  Yikes!

You’ll need some strategy – and some questions.  First, your strategic sales team plan, four strategies to implement right away:

• Ask questions. Meet with your sales team (conference calls work in a pinch) and brainstorm to identify the top three – only three – key activities that lead to the fastest, cleanest, most profitable sale for your company.

  Once you’ve defined these key elements, begin to orient your energies and systems to create more time for the three elements. By getting all your sales people involved in this process you build trust, focus and create more accountability because team members are giving you answers based on sales data and experience.

  No more excuses for failure if they don’t follow the formula they all agreed is the right one.

• Create more accountability. Implement a weekly or bi-weekly reporting system that shows you all activity – calls, meetings, proposals, quotes, proposals, tradeshows, letters sent and the like to get a handle on where the sales team’s energy and time is spent.

  You may find some misguided players whose compass simply needs to be reset.

• Install an incentive plan based on activity. Define a “qualified customer,” then create a reward system for activity that will lead to sales (i.e., the three keys the team agreed are critical to making more sales). Offer, for example, a $250 check for every proposal or meeting; or on-site visit; or major account important enough for you to attend the meeting personally.

  You will immediately see who’s motivated and disciplined enough to attack activity that leads to accomplishment. (Yes, you still pay them the commission, as well.)

• Homework assignment. Ask each sales person to write their 30/60/90/120-day sales and marketing plan to grow sales in their region, and e-mail it to you within three days. This simple request will astound you in revealing who are the thinkers, the doers, the procrastinators, the smoke ‘n mirror gamers and the weak writers.

  This exercise also gives you keen insights to how to utilize various training and motivating techniques, as well as enhance all written correspondence going out on company letterhead.

It will take less than one week to implement the four strategies, with little cost. The results and learning you will glean will enhance your knowledge, create more energy in the sales team and show your new boss that you were worth paying the big bucks to join their team.

You’ll also want to learn the personalities on your team. Based on research that indicates past success is a key predictor of future success and that, indeed, you’re looking for success, here are some behavior-based questions to ask in one-on-one discussions with your sales people.

The questions are conversational, non-threatening and created to generate life stories that will help you better understand each individual’s drive, life experience, sales training, personal status, behavioral patterns and how the person organizes their life.

Armed with this meta analysis, you can gauge who on your staff will best benefit from additional sales training/coaching – and who may not be worth additional investment at this time.

•1) Why don’t you start?  What question do you have for me?

•2) What would really surprise me about you?

•3) For a prospect:  What’s your real motivation to change jobs? Now what’s the real reason?

•4) What’s your philosophy on goal setting?

•5) What reading material would I find on your coffee table (or nightstand, kitchen table, car)?

•6) Tell me about a situation that placed you in an ethical dilemma?  How did you handle it??

•7) How did you earn money in college?

•8) How far away from home have you traveled? (Have a map on your desk.)

•9) Draw a pie chart showing how you spend an eight-hour day.

•10) Are you a curious person? If so, give me an example.

•11) What’s your favorite success story?  How about a failure story?

•12) What should I have asked you that I haven’t?

•13) Want to be a millionaire? Why? What are you doing to prepare for it?

•14) How would your world change if you made $35,000 more next year?

•15) For a prospect:  Are you ready to resign from your job in five days? What will they do when you quit? What will they say about you after you have left the company?

•16) Share some stories about the four most influential people you know.

•17) Have you ever created a 30, 60, 90-day strategic plan for your job or a future job? Give me the outline of such a plan now.

Got a question of your own to ask author Russ Riendeau?  You can reach Russ at www.russellriendeau.com or 847/381-0977.

#####

Behavioral scientist. Senior Partner, The East Wing Search Group.
Co-author, The CEO’s Guide To Talent Acquisition: Finding Talent Your Competitors Overlook (Eyecatcher Press 2008)
Nationally known speaker on retention strategies and peak performance.
Watch Russ at www.RussRiendeau.com. Email him at russ@RussRiendeau.com.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/great-questions-reveal-more-than-just-great-answers-how-to-find-the-sales-talent-you-need-today-812865.html

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Business to business sales are generally more complex than business to consumer sales.  Lead management involves individuals, clients, departments, teams and businesses.  Business sales cycles generally take longer than B2C sales cycles. Businesses have a higher resistance to sales and are knowledgeable on sales and marketing strategies.  Chances are high they have their own sales and marketing strategies developing within their company.

Sales training can help a B2B sales professional upgrade his skills to generate more leads, nurture and manage leads more thoroughly, use sales technology proficiently, understand the nuances of the business sale as opposed to a consumer sale, and develop new and inspiring business presentations and sales techniques.  A B2B sales professional must be alert to the changing nature of sales and marketing and the changing nature of the business economy.

B2B sales professionals that aren’t trained in the latest sales and marketing techniques are likely to portray the company as not being capable of moving ahead with the business climate.  Your business must show credibility through your B2B sales team.  B2B sales typically require a consultive approach to relationships, rather than a product focused approach.  Sales training can develop consulting skills and strengthen the consulting credibility of the B2B sales professional.  A credible and trustworthy sales professional that is aware of current business trends will develop long-term relationships with clients that can contribute to cross-referrals and contribute to long-term revenue growth.

The most fundamental increase in complexity between a B2B company and a B2C company is the mere size of lead relationships.  Because B2B companies must sell to many individuals to make one sale, it is necessary for B2B sales professionals to be familiar with multiple selling techniques that can be applied to individual and departmental presentations.  Sales training for B2B sales professionals can provide sales professionals with unending ideas for sales presentations. The B2B sales professional will then have the presentation skills necessary to effectively present and sell to a large and diverse business audience.

Sales training for a B2B sales team or B2B sales professional is available at basic, intermediate and advanced skill levels. B2B sales require unique, complex sales and organizational skills that can be continuously improved upon with B2B sales training.  B2B sales training will provide your sales staff with skills that will increase their credibility and consultation skills with sales targets.

Training for B2B sales professionals can also train sales professionals to formulate presentations that are hard for the target to resist.  Strong sales relationships that are given winning sales presentations will keep your business winning a healthy sales revenue.

For more information on sales training or to contact us, visit our website – http://www.sales-training.net.au

Tim Williams founded Deakon Pty Ltd. in 2004 to provide professional Sales Training, Sales Courses, Sales Programs, Sales Training Courses & Sales Recruitment Services in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane.

His background encompasses 17 years of Technical Sales roles in the IT & T + Automation industries having been a Business Development Manager for Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies, Trend Micro and Schneider.

Tim is as a leader in the sales training industry in Australia. http://www.deakon.com.au

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/sales-training-for-the-b2b-sales-team-790805.html

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Entrepreneurs need sales training to carry them during tough economic times.  The stronger the sales skills, the higher the chances of your business surviving during business uncertainty.  Every entrepreneur takes a risk when starting their business, and investing in sales training can be one of the safest and most profitable investment risks. Sales training is an investment that lasts the lifetime of the business.  It also provides the entrepreneur with a perspective on sales that can provide insight into developing a solid sales strategy.

A sales strategy must be able to survive during every business climate condition. Developing metrics to establish sales productivity levels is an important part of a long-term sales strategy.  Without a productivity measurement system in place, an accurate measurement of sales techniques to sales performance can not be made.   Sales productivity standards will be a benchmark to determine which particular sales process is worthy of the highest investment.  Spending twenty-four hours cold-calling a thousand dead-ends will not have the same productivity value as spending twenty-four hours developing a solid customer relationship that generates one sale.

Sales training can help identify which sales processes are being handled most efficiently, and which are being handled the least productively.  By participating in sales training, the entrepreneur can fully examine several sales methods and techniques for each facet of the sales process and determine which techniques and methods are the most productive for the company.  Once productivity measures are set, and revenue-producing sales skills are mastered and applied, the business is positioned to be strong enough to weather challenging economic conditions.  Productive sales skills applied faithfully in a well-planned sales strategy will replace valueless activity with strategic profitable activity.

A training assessment held in a Fortune 100 company for nine months clearly demonstrated the importance of developing sales skills through sales training.  This study tracked changes of a trained sales team and an untrained sales team during a recession and found that untrained sales professionals had a 13% sales drop, whereas the trained personnel had a 17% increase in sales.  There was little doubt that sales training was a safe investment when the research showed that trained sales professionals were 79% more successful at developing new leads than untrained sales professionals during a recession.

Sales training can give entrepreneurs the skills they need to survive in any business climate.  Skills can sell when activity can’t. Developing productivity sales metrics early on in your business sales strategy is the first step to determining what skills should be considered when investing in sales training.  Entrepreneurs know that every investment must go through a risk assessment.  A risk assessment of sales training will show you that sales training is an entrepreneurial necessity to reach long-term economic success.

For more information on sales training or to contact us, visit our website – http://www.sales-training.net.au

Tim Williams founded Deakon Pty Ltd. in 2004 to provide professional Sales Training, Sales Courses, Sales Programs, Sales Training Courses & Sales Recruitment Services in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane.

His background encompasses 17 years of Technical Sales roles in the IT & T + Automation industries having been a Business Development Manager for Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies, Trend Micro and Schneider.

Tim is as a leader in the sales training industry in Australia. http://www.deakon.com.au

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/sales-training-for-the-entrepreneur-struggling-to-succeed-790801.html

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A sales competency model describes the particular combination of knowledge, skills, and personal characteristics needed to effectively perform a sales role in an organization, and is used as a human resource tool for selection, training and development, appraisal and succession planning.

Similar to the individual sales competency models, successful sales organizations share certain characteristics i.e. competencies that are worthy to note:

•         Effective Sales Process

•         Sound Management System

•         Updated Automation Tools

The impact of using sales competency models is significant at both the individual and the organizational levels.  In addition, sales management has proved to be more effective by using this behavioral approach of management.  The benefits from implementing sales models include:

•         Increased customer retention and loyalty

•         Reduced sales employee turnover

•         Higher revenue growth rates or higher profitability.

There is no doubt that training helps and assists companies in the Gulf in instituting competency models and many training programs address this behavioral approach, however the responsibility falls also in the hands of sales managers and supervisors to implement such models and coach their sales force accordingly.  This will ultimately lead to peak performance in sales and the increase in profit that it entails.  However, training the sales force has to be fun, taking into consideration the number of demotivating objections they handle per day.  Top companies such as GE, Kodak and IBM are trying to incorporate more humor into the workplace including everything from a special humor bulletin board to silly hat days.  Studies showed that when humor was incorporated into the workplace, companies experienced a 21 percent decrease in staff turnover and a 38 percent decrease in absenteeism.

So give it a try, use a sales competency model and train your staff accordingly while making sure that the workplace and the learning experience include humor.  After all we’ve heard the saying, laughter is the best training medicine.

Meirc Dubai offers an impressive range of Dubai training, consulting, Dubai Certification, Seminars Dubai, Management Course Dubai, Dubai Business Training and research services.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/sales-training-competency-based-for-a-slow-economy-788598.html

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