Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007 - (Page 28)

manager areyou abad ? may be insecure in their new position. Either end of the spectrum is a problem. According to Stephens, “Achieving that balance between results and retention requires the ability to drive performance in a way that leverages talent, promotes growth and respects what it takes for an adult to be satisfied in his or her role.” the signs will tell the tale The sales environment is unique in that it’s easily measurable. An unhappy sales rep can’t just go to work and kill time for long before someone figures it out. Sales results don’t lie and they affect everyone on a team, from the rep to the manager and beyond. It might be easy to tell who’s not meeting the quota, but how can you tell why a great performer is great, or a bad one is bad? One of the challenges managers might face is the access to performance measurement tools. Sometimes, even if they do have the tools, they might not know what to do with the information. Stephen says that the data resulting from a selling skills assessment tool can tell you exactly what’s going on. If your team can be placed on a typical bell curve, you have a couple top producers, a whole bunch in the middle who are adequate (but not reaching their potential) and a couple who are struggling. A good assessment tool will look at their skills and produce a statistical analysis that indicates whether each person’s talent is closing, presenting or building relationships. Many of these talents can be improved through targeted skills coaching. The challenge for the manager is to coach based on all of these personal characteristics. Stephens says that if you “treat them all the same and SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 istock photo do their professional development plans the same for the year, you’ll be wrong two out of three times. With data that goes deeper than numbers, a skilled sales manager can assess each individual and coach them on their weaknesses.” Dealing with highly complex human behavior is no easy task, but if the manager takes the time and care to use an appropriate assessment tool (even for new hires), valuable time can be saved when trying to figure out someone’s strengths, weaknesses, skills, drive and motivation. According to Stephens, a good sales manager will be a proactive self-starter with a high sense of urgency who is driven by results. These are clear, innate indicators of drive on which managers are measured themselves, so they should feel comfortable measuring their team on the same criteria. A good manager also will be able to tell if a certain team member can be coached back to good performance or if sales is just not a good fit. “Sales is a combination of art and science,” Stephens says. “You can measure things like sales skills, which can be taught to some degree because it’s learned behavior. The difference is how much joy the salespeople will get when executing the behavior if they are not hardwired that way.” Ideally, a good sales rep will display both the hardwired talent and the learned behavior. Of all these factors, the different types of talent might be the most important to consider. The question to ask is not whether someone is a good salesperson, but rather, what kind of sales this person is good at. “I talked to a guy yesterday who was just not what you’d expect a salesperson to be,” Stephens recalls.“He was quite reserved … very measured in his speaking.” Although he was clearly very intelligent, she thought he wouldn’t be good at selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. But if he were to sell a highly sophisticated product or service—a scenario in which the rep has to be an expert—he would excel. “It turns out he was the top producer for an investment firm in Boston,” Stephens says. “If you met him, you’d never have guessed he was in sales.” Selling differs depending on the environment. Some areas require personality, others skill, and still others knowledge. But without drive, success will elude you. “If their sales are low, teach them,” Stephens says. “If their motivation is off, determine if that can be turned around. If they have no drive or desire to be in this business, that’s when you can’t fix it.” As a manager, your role is to teach your salespeople www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com 28 http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007

Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007 Contents Editor’s Letter Management Strategies What “Tell Me More,” Really Means Sales Strategy Marketing Management Motivation/Incentives Training Technology The Brains Behind the Brawn Are You a Bad Manager? Pipeline = Lifeline Feeling the Squeeze; The Foray Mobile Workmate; Seeking the Sights of Pittsburgh; Testing the Social Media Waters. Gadgets & Gear Books That Improve Strategic Thinking, People Skills and Sales Work/Life Take-Aways

Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007

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