Sales & Marketing Management - January/February 2009 - (Page 11) materials are always going to go to the country with the cheapest labor costs. “The salesperson’s going to have to add substantially higher value, because the Internet can provide everything else in just giving information,” he adds.“Building personal relationships as the basis for why you should buy from me versus somebody else is gone, as well.” Delaney’s professional experience bears that out. “In my 28 years in sales and sales leadership, the most significant change has happened in the last eight years as our prospects, salespeople and companies have become more informed,” she says. “When I began leading sales teams, it took four objections to set an appointment. Now it takes 13 for that same appointment.” “We go back to why it needs to come through college: Some 80 or 90 percent of successful businessto-business salespeople can’t read a P&L statement,” says Stevens. “The customer they’re selling to is a businessperson, and the language of business is P&L.” Selling a solution All of the above leads to an obvious query: Just what is the USEF’s strategy for getting academia to embrace sales? As it turns out, it’s a multi-pronged one. For starters, the foundation maintains a comprehensive listing of verified university sales programs that do exist nationwide—all of which offer a combination of classroom training and applicable hands-on experience. Equally important, the USEF makes its presence known in the classroom itself. To wit, the foundation’s curriculum developers have been creating advanced selling courses for use in sales programs, along with textbooks, faculty manuals and other supporting materials. In conjunction with Ohio University, the USEF’s research committee conducts an ongoing survey of sales program graduates, the results of which further shape curriculum development. Copies of Achieve Sales Excellence, Stevens’ own tome, are provided at cost to schools for classroom use. In addition, Chally provides free assessments to juniors and seniors at more than a dozen university sales programs, enabling students to identify their strengths, weaknesses and most promising career prospects. And as Rackham notes, when it comes time to hire those graduates, companies may be breathing substantially easier. “It’s becoming a more and more costly decision when you hire a salesperson,” he says. “It’s costly because salespeople are fairly highly paid, but it’s also costly because of the cost of failure. “Now, it would be fine if you’d go out and hire rock stars away from your competition, but that’s a very, very expensive way to do it,” he adds. “And the dilemma for most companies is, there aren’t enough rock stars. www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com “One of the ways in which I believe sales education is going to prove more and more important is, it gives you a higher probability that the person you’re hiring will be successful, because you know he/she has a body of knowledge and skill that is necessary for doing that job.” The USEF’s efforts don’t end there. In 2008, the foundation partnered with ThinkTV—a Dayton PBS affiliate—to develop The New Selling of America, the first of a three-part series airing on public television. This premiere installment makes the case that professionalizing sales is necessary for the U.S. to remain competitive in the global economy. Part two (The Science of Sales) is being filmed this year, with the third installment (Sales as the Global Career) set to follow. The USEF also is looking abroad to further its mission. Representatives have met with European universities to establish partnerships with U.S. university sales programs. In addition, the foundation has put together a weeklong certification program for training international salespeople. Administered “Sales education by faculty members from participating gives you a higher university sales programs, the course probability that will make its debut later this year. the person you’re “The science of sales is fairly standard regardless of the country and hiring will be culture,” says Delaney. “The commu- successful, nication style is what varies by because you country—that’s the art of sales—as it know he/she conforms to every culture. Some of the has a body of cultures tend to value more aggressive and candid communication, while knowledge and others find that type of style uncom- skill that is fortable and sometimes even offensive. necessary for “Therefore, the research and train- doing that job.” ing can be global with some edits for —Neil Rackham, the cultural nuances for each country.” USEF board member Through all of its initiatives, it’s clear the USEF is aiming for short- as well as long-term impact—one of the foundation’s stated goals is to increase the number of colleges and universities offering approved sales education by 10 percent yearly. Whether or not that target proves achievable, one thing’s for sure: Thanks to Howard Stevens’ efforts, his favorite profession has taken a giant step toward respectability. Editor’s Note: To learn more about the USEF, visit www.saleseducationfoundation.org.And be sure to check out the article, “From Sales Star to Sales Supporter”—written by USEF governance board member Jason Jordan—on page 16. photo by Roger Hagadone JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT 11 http://www.saleseducationfoundation.org http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.