Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007 - (Page 12)

the Pitch MANAGEMENT Failure Is Not an Option Steer your team to success with these proven strategies ROSEN SUGGESTS THE FOLLOWING TIPS: 1. Develop your skills as a coach. Without actually participating in a coach training program to develop your own skills, all you are doing is changing your title (rather than your essence, thinking and skills). 2. Consistent weekly coaching. The more time you spend at the gym and the better you eat, the healthier you become. The same rule applies to maintaining and building the health of your sales team. 3. Develop a strong start orientation program. Take the time to outline the measurables and milestones you expect every new hire to hit within the first four weeks. 4. Hire better people. The more interviews you conduct, the more interviews the candidate has with various people within your organization and the less chance you will make the wrong decision. 5. Implement a tactical turnaround strategy. Companies that lack a clearly defined strategy to handle underperformers tend to overcompensate in other areas for the weakness this void creates. A fourweek turnaround program will help you identify what's really going on and provide you with the framework to quickly determine how you can turn around an underperformer in less than 30 days … or whether you and your company are better off without them. Remember that rejection is tough on everyone, even the most experienced sales professional. Make sure that both the grizzled veteran and the wet-behind-the-ears newbie recognize that objections are just another opportunity for a sales rep to demonstrate value. —Izabella Iizuka N o matter the product or service, selling is a tough business. Having a thick skin, a great work ethic and an unflappable “can-do” attitude are among the most crucial traits needed to launch a successful selling career. But your sales team also needs to know where the potential pitfalls are and how to avoid them. By discussing with team members the primary reasons why salespeople fail, you’re providing a roadmap for success that will help them throughout their careers. “Whether your team consists of 1,000 salespeople or just one, the simple fact stands: Avalanches roll downhill,” says Keith Rosen, president of Profit Builders and author of Time Management for Sales Professionals and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cold Calling. “It starts from the top, and that’s why managers are 100% accountable for the success and failure of their sales teams.” POP QUIZ A QUICK TEST OF YOUR MANAGERIAL SKILLS “ARE YOU GETTING THROUGH TO YOUR CLIENTS?” Answers provided by Scott Savage, a senior consultant with FranklinCovey’s Sales Performance Group, who trains and coaches consultative complex sales strategies, processes and skills to Fortune 500 companies globally. Your discussions with potential clients should always begin with the solution they are seeking. FALSE: Consider this principle: Diagnose before you prescribe. If we start talking about solutions before we uncover or understand a client’s needs, we’re headed towards sales malpractice. The reality is that solutions only derive value from the problems they solve or the results they create for clients. The harder you work to sell someone, the greater your chances of success. FALSE: People hate being sold. The harder we push our agenda, solution or products through manipulative or coercive techniques, the faster we lose a sale. On the other hand, the harder we work to understand our clients’ needs—and the more we focus on their numbers rather than our own numbers—the greater our own success. The thing to remember is how we solve our client’s issues or problems is far more effective than how we “sell” through techniques. 12 SALES&MARKETING MANAGEMENT OCTOBER 2007 When it comes to a selling situation, if the rules are dysfunctional, break the rules. TRUE: If the rules prevent us from helping our clients succeed, break from them and create new rules. Selling and buying has become very dysfunctional. Sellers get pushy, buyers don’t want to be sold and they both resort to all sorts of dysfunctional practices to outdo the other. As salespeople, we are guilty until proven innocent. We have to get rid of dysfunctions by adopting a “help clients succeed” mindset and skillset, and prove to clients that we’re on their agenda rather than ours. www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007

Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007 Contents Editor’s Letter Management Strategies Why Prospecting Gets No Respect Sales Strategy: Spotlight your Services Marketing: A Social Intelligence Primer Management: Steer your Team to Success Motivation/Incentives: The No-Pain Way to Gain Training: Looking for Yesterday’s Learning or Tomorrow’s? Technology: Get Trade Show Satisfaction with the Video Massage Focusing on SMB Solutions The Best Sales Force The Hottest Job Industries Overseas Aggravation Gadgets & Gear: Pen and Ink as an Art Form Books that Improve Strategic Thinking, People Skills and Sales One Foot Out the Door Work/Life: Calling in the Fitness Cavalry. Take-Aways: Bite-size Strategies to Help You Sell More, Market Smarter and Manage Better

Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007

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