Sales & Marketing Management - October 2007 - (Page 27)

tor of sales interview the applicants. If they feel strongly about a candidate, he or she is interviewed by more people from the group who already perform the same job the candidate is interviewing for. If the candidate is still viable, the CEO and the divisional president of sales conduct the final interview. “It is time-consuming, but it shows our commitment to the candidate and helps us choose outstanding people,” Shumway says. Bill Truax, president of Truefield Enterprises in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, suggests having potential candidates shadow seasoned reps in the field or have them take a psychologically based test administered by a third-party firm. “This is really a good way to develop reps to the top of their potential,” he says. Even if you inherit a sales team already in place, there are ways to transform it into a higher-producing group, as well as increasing job satisfaction. Josh Horstmann, a 12year veteran of telesales in the telecommunications industry, has been on the job two months as vice president of America’s TeleWeb Sales for Novell. He oversees a 90person inside sales team. Horstmann’s three-step assessment process will work for inside or field sales forces. “The first thing I did [when I started at Novell] was have an ‘all hands’ meeting and introduced myself, and then went over the goals and challenges,” he tells Sales & Marketing Management. “Next, I met with the managers to assess where their skill level was. It’s very important to have the right sales managers in place. Lastly, with the sales managers, I assessed the individual employees and divided them into three levels: top performers, middle-of-the road performers and those who are struggling. “Concentrate on the third group first to determine where you can help them. Some people in this group should be put on a performance improvement plan; others may not make it. But take a hard look at how you can make them successful. For me, the right attitude is important; I want people who want to be successful.” Because of the high burnout rate in telesales, Horstmann says he looks for the right balance of alignwww.salesandmarketingmanagement.com “ ” You can’t take your best sales performer and say, ‘Poof, now you’re the manager,’ and still expect them to succeed. It requires a totally different skill set.” ing company goals with an employee’s personal goals. With 80 percent of his reps’ time spent on the phone, incentives, daily spiffs and making the job fun are all ways he tries to keep morale up. Ongoing training is his final piece of the puzzle. He says he’s been successful keeping the turnover rate during his career in telesales between 15 percent and 20 percent, with some of that attrition due to reps who have moved to outside sales as part of their career development. “This is a high-volume, stress-filled, metric-driven job,” Horstmann concludes. “I’d rather hire the right people, train them, help them fulfill the company’s goals and their personal goals, and move them up in the company—if that’s what they want—than lose them.” s&mm OCTOBER 2007 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT 27 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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