10 Reasons Why Companies Evaluate Their Sales Force with SG Partners

- and what’s there to gain?

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1. They want to grow.

2. They don't know whether they have the right salespeople or sales managers to achieve that growth.

3. They need a better understanding of how to effectively manage their people daily.

4. They don't know why their salespeople aren't doing what they have been asked to do.

5. They don't know if their salespeople can do more (or how much more).

6. Their company isn't exceeding its goals.

7. Their competition has a better market share.

8. Their margins have been slipping.

9. Their salespeople are caught in a "comfort zone".

10. Management is accepting mediocrity from its sales force.

SG Partners work with sales teams all around Australia to provide tailored growth improvement programs:

One of the keys to the success of any program is knowing what we are working with as a first step. SG Partners conduct personalised leadership and sales team evaluations that enable us to tailor-make the change program.

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How do I identify whether a salesperson is a Hunter or a Farmer?

We all know how successful sports stars compete, they practice and play to their strengths. Well, why not take the same attitude to sales? How can you work more effectively with the team you already know and have right now? In doing so, you automatically give yourself a distinct advantage and very likely differentiate yourself. Do you know your sales teams strengths and how to work with them?

• Are your people Hunter or Farmer types?

• Do they prefer setting the opportunity up rather than closing it?

• Who in the team prefers to be more technical rather than consultative sales approach?

The interesting thing is that most salespeople do not know their strengths and potential growth areas. When we assess them and deliver the results, they usually say, "That's me, and wow, I did not know that’s where I play at my best… I normally just do what I do.” You deserve the very best sales team. From acquiring the very best, you can achieve the results you never thought possible.

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When you screen your team with us, we provide information against the 21 core competencies of great salespeople.

How easy would it be if you could see your teams proof of skills and abilities?

Get your sales assessment tool free sample here

6 Tips to Improve Sales Team Performance

– You Might Not Have Thought Of

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If you are reading this article, it is likely you play a crucial role in your sales team and are seeking ways to improve your sales team's performance. Fortunately, I have got 6 ideas to improve your sales team, you might not have thought of...

1. Identify your farmers and hunters

Who is best at developing new business and who is best at managing existing business? Who prefers setting the opportunity up rather than closing it and who is more technical than via application knowledge sales? The interesting thing is that most salespeople do not know their own strengths. When we assess them and deliver the results, they will often say “That’s me, and wow I did not know that was where I play at my best.” If you are aware of their strengths, you can redefine their roles, then plan growth strategies accordingly. Download a free sample of our evaluation here.

2. Be a mentor, not just a manager

Great managers can improve sales team performance by sharing their own experiences with their employees. Enforcing an open-door policy and trading ‘war stories’ with your sales team for learning purposes, will strengthen the culture and increase your salespeople’s’ loyalty and motivation.

3. Hold your salespeople accountable

There are sales managers out there who believe they need to be liked by their team, others lack skills or the confidence to assert themselves over a salesperson, or they simply do not have the authority to hire and fire and it is leaving their sales team with a lack of direction and accountability.

It is time to get trained on creating and managing KPI’s and processes, and how to hold each salesperson accountable to them. Before you ask, this is not a direct contradiction from, ‘be a mentor, not just a manager’ point. In fact, it directly relates: an army drill soldier can be both an authority figure and mentor, as a sales manager you can too!

4. Find out what drives them

Knowing what drives your team and how to reward them correctly could make all the difference. Consider this, in 2007, 54% of the sales force were Extrinsically Motivated, by 2011, this dropped down to just 27%. In 2017, from the most recent 350,000 salespeople assessed, that percentage dropped an additional 70% to just 8%. The shift from Extrinsically (money based) to Intrinsically Motivated (internal reward based) renders commission based bonus-plans a thing of the past.

5. Have an ideal client profile memorised

If you don’t already have one, this is a sheet/checklist that defines your company’s ideal client attributes. Think in terms of size, industry, buying habits, budget, business alignments and situation factors; the list goes on. Once decided, each member of your sales team should be held accountable for memorising this profile thus be able to identify the essential qualities before conducting any business. Align your pursuit of new business with this profile. Over time, as the business grows or changes, so should the ideal client.

6. Finally, commence sales team training NOW!

Sales have moved on from features and benefits selling. It's changed from ABC – Always Be Closing. It has changed from SPIN – why? Well, guess what, your clients/buyers have moved on and changed, so shouldn’t your team too? I got some questions for you:

• Is your sales team selling like they were five years ago?

• Using the same show-up and throw-up routine?

• STILL meeting/talking to the same level of people they have always done and are comfortable with?

• Still believe rapport building is talking about sports for 30 minutes?

If you do not know the answers to these questions – perhaps you should be worried. Answering "Yes" to these questions – you should be worried! Finally, if you were thinking, “What's the problem?” - you're obviously not worried but you SHOULD be terrified! How many will you implement?

6 Sales Force Development Rules

– to Achieve More With Less

How can the sales force achieve more? Why do some fail? 

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1. Be consistent in developing your sales force instead of tight budgets

Too many times I have seen the ‘money on the brain syndrome.’ Symptoms include valuing money over your employee’s professional development, refusing to spend on training and ignoring the data which spells out why investment now equals long term success. There are many ways to create a sustainable sales force whatever your budget; stinginess should never factor into the equation.

2. Never stop spending to boost your sales machine

Would you drive your car without fuel? What makes you think you can grow your sales without investing in your sales team? Find the time and money to invest in your sales team and see above!

3. Coach, coach, coach!

I am constantly shocked to hear of the lack of coaching or the underestimated value of it. In fact, a recent study found 73% of sales managers spend less than 5% of their time coaching. Sales managers consistently fail to understand that sales team must be coached in a consistent and personalised manner. Focused sales development solutions will lead to sales performance optimisation.

4. Never recruit new blood without a sales assessment tool

Knowing what drives your team and how to reward them correctly could make all the difference. Consider this, in 2007, 54% of the sales force were Extrinsically Motivated, by 2011, this dropped down to just 27%. In 2017, from the most recent 350,000 salespeople assessed, that percentage dropped an additional 70% to just 8%. The shift from Extrinsically (money based) to Intrinsically Motivated (internal reward based) renders commission based bonus-plans a thing of the past. Download a copy of our free sales candidate screening sample and say goodbye to the days of dodgy recruits.

5. Link the performance of the sales force to the sales coaching

Accountability is the first thing that motivates human and your sales team. Link any coaching efforts to the sales team’s performance. If their numbers are down, and you are the sales manager, hold yourself accountable. A conductor’s job is to make the moves for the team to follow. Accordingly, the better your coaching, the better they perform.

6. Do not forget we are working with human beings, not machines

Expect deficiencies and be prepared to work to fix them, accordingly, do not be scared when you discover one. Always look at your ratios to add, minimise, refine your coaching to coordinate with the sales team performance. To help them do thing differently to achieve, you should

1. Set an accountability system

2. Monitor them accordingly

3. Coach them closely

4. Give them faith in their abilities

5. Be their reference

6. Be credible

7. Be consistent

The 5 Stages of Grief from a Bad Hiring Decision

Ships do not sink because of the water around them, they sink because of the water in them.

The same goes for business; if your team is underperforming, you could find the company sinking before your very eyes.

Ergo, hiring a bad salesperson can cost your business thousands; the same amount you could be making by hiring a good one. Unfortunately for anyone who has made a disastrous hiring decision, there are five stages of grief to battle before you see the light.

1. Denial — “No they can’t be this bad, I had a hand in hiring them!”

At this initial stage, you are still buying into the fact this person is right for the position, for your organisation. It takes a while for the news to sink in, and even when you can see it coming a mile away. Bunker down, this stage can linger on uncomfortably for weeks. To push forward; fight the urge to protect them, you need to get critical about your team. You want different outcomes. Therefore, you need to think about them differently.

2. Anger/Frustration — “Is this possible? How did this happen? Whose fault is this?”

It is normal to spend some time in this phase, but some people get stuck here and cannot move forward. That is self-defeating because that ‘anger’ attitude is a HUGE barrier to moving forward and making the big decisions.

3. Bargaining — “Maybe if I just…”

You start promising yourself that you will be more careful next time. You will do this though in the hope things will change. Some miracles will happen, to demonstrate nothing different needs to be done.

4. Depression — “I’m never going to get another great employee for that position.”

Therefore, I keep what I have – better the devil you know. This is a normal feeling. How motivated are you to change the outcome you deserve?

5. Acceptance — “What’s next? What will I do differently to get a better outcome?”

The fact is that you can change the outcomes by selecting, who to invest in and who you will not. Bouncing off this decision, you WILL find another great employee. You will get through this! Congratulations on reaching this last stage, now to take the next actions to save your ship and move into calmer waters.

Next Steps:

• RAISE the BAR - Do not allow under-performing to continue

• TRAINING - Targeted to the needs of the team

• HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE

• RECRUIT - Recruit ‘A’ Players only, using the SG Partners Sales Assessment Tool – Download a Free Sample here

“The goal of leaders is to create more leaders, not followers!”

Communication Barriers

It’s not Sheep!

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I’m sure you’ve had the experience when you are talking with someone and no matter how hard you tried, they didn’t understand what you were saying.

You rephrase, even speak louder and still a blank look or worse an argument that doesn’t make sense.

Ray Birdwhistell from the University of Pennsylvania suggested that words comprise only 7% of our communication.

This seems even more valid when the discussion becomes emotionally charged.

Let’s assume for a moment that this is true. What happens to the other 93%?

Most people communicate by choosing the words they use.

What people are not usually aware of is the impact of their words, and other unconscious factors have on the recipient’s mind.

If I were to say to you “The parrot bit Jane” to process this in your mind, you might have created a picture of a parrot biting Jane.

Maybe even the squawk of the parrot before the biting, and possibly Jane’s cry from the pain.

You might have experienced certain feelings yourself as you imagine the discomfort of the bite.

As you are a unique human being the internal processing of that experience is unique to you, no-one else will make the same pictures, sounds and feelings.

If you change just two of the words around ‘Jane bit the bird’ the internal representation or experience you have now is entirely different.

If just a few words make that much difference, now reconsider that words are only 7% of the communication. Does it now make sense why communication can so easily be misunderstood?

Often, we are pretty lazy.  We usually just conclude:

“They are stupid. They are inflexible. They just don’t listen.”

It’s possible we are right, sometimes, but this kind of labelling won’t help you communicate. It stops your mind from looking for an alternate way of getting your meaning across.

The key is to change the way you approach communication.

Accept that everyone is unique and that this is a great thing. It’s your responsibility to find out how a person experiences the world and then communicate with them accordingly.

There are many ways to do that we talk about in our training and coaching programs. Learn more on how we can help here.

When training is great, it’s great

Many years ago we would be about to conduct a sales training workshop, when we got feedback that some of the participants may not change, and therefore would just go through the motions of participating.

This is not new.

Many training workshops have been held, on many subjects, and yet some participants revert back to what they have always done, its unfortunately common.

When we started conducting workshops, we made a guiding principle:

We give a shift.

What this does is keep us focused on ensuring people are having a great experience and receive ‘aha’ moments – and I mean plural moments.

We have consistently structured our workshops around personalisation – around the organisations go-to market strategy, their products/services, their marketplace and especially their people attending.

Don’t just take our word for it!

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Two weeks ago I facilitated a workshop for 30 people.

I already knew that during a previous workshop one participant left after the first day lunch – refusing to come back. Knowing this, I played on him – as an example to others.

He came back after our lunch break – yeah, we had a win. I focused very hard on engaging with everyone there – assisting them in understanding mindset blockages they were having and the benefits of re-framing.

Some of the attendees has been in sales for 30 years – I was going to have to provide some personalisation to get them to buy in. The feedback forms confirmed I had been successful.

Back to the sales workshop where some of the participants may not change.

At the end of the first day, one of those participants who indicated they would not change said to me, “Michael, this is the very first time any organisation has invested in me, thank you”. That person is now a very successful sales manager (who I have since coached) and he sends his people to our Super Sales Clinics whenever he can – because We Give a Shift.

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So would you like your people to have a shift?

Check out our upcoming Super Sales Clinic Brisbane 26/27th May.

Sales Tools Training

When we look at the effectiveness and efficiencies of our sales team members are we focused on the right leading activities?

For instance, when it comes to emails:

• Open rates increase after 12 p.m. most days, with the most active period being between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. (Mail Chimp)

• Tuesday emails have the highest open rate compared to other weekdays. (Experian)

• 33% of email recipients open emails based on subject line alone. (Convince and Convert)

So, are your salespeople really thinking about when they send their emails and what the subject lines are all about? And what about the body of the email - are they consciously thinking about the type of person who is receiving their emails and what they would want to read and how they will be reading the email?

So many people send emails when they should be ringing. So many people send emails because it makes themselves feel good because they can tick an activity off their to do list.

So many people use the wrong tonality in their emails, the wrong perspectives and are not thinking enough about the recipient.

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For instance, when it comes to voicemail:

• The average voicemail response rate is 4.8%. (InsideSales)

• The optimal voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds. (The Sales Hunter)

• 80% of calls go to voicemail, and 90% of first-time voicemails are never returned. (RingLead)

Are your salespeople calling enough and leaving the right voicemails?

What message are they leaving, is it engaging enough to warrant someone calling them back. Are they coming across as a salesperson or as an interesting person? Are they coming across as a problem solver?

On the phone,

• tone is 86% of our communication. (ContactPoint)

• words we use are only 14% of our communication. (ContactPoint)

• the best times to call are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:45 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. (RingDNA)

• 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after meeting. (Scripted)

• 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. (Scripted)

Are your salespeople calling enough?

Are they giving up, making excuses for not constantly reaching out?  Are they consciously aware of how they come across? Are they spraying instead of engaging? Are they reaching out with the right intent?

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Social Media

• Sales reps using social selling are 50% more likely to meet or exceed their sales quota. (Liz Gelb-O’Connor)

• 73% of salespeople using social selling as part of their sales process outperform their sales peers and exceeded quota 23% more often. (Aberdeen)

Are your salespeople engaging with LinkedIn?

Do they understand the platform? Are they utilising LinkedIn/twitter and other platforms as another way to engage? Are you as a leader fostering this platform?

Are your client engagement people understanding and focusing on the right tools in the right way?

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Could your people need a tune up/ a reminder session to tweak their understanding/focus and effectiveness? Contact us now.