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Build A Powerhouse Sales Team
by Gerry Robert

If you have a dynamic, hot, powerful salesforce, you are indeed lucky! But maybe luck has little to do with it.

If you have a sales team of powerhouse players then you must be doing something right.

The old adage of 20 percent of your salespeople give you 80 percent of your sales holds true. Some managers even report that today, in some companies a 10 percent / 90 percent ratio is closer to reality.

Those percentages are terrible. It costs you too much money to maintain that kind of "failure" rate.

How can we improve our odds in sales management?


Guidelines For Effective Sales Management

Make sure that the new recruits never hit the street until they are totally sold on your product or service. They must be as excited about what they are selling as you are.

Demand 100 percent commitment from them. They must be ready to do whatever it takes to win, to perform at maximum capacity from the word - go!

They must be focussed on the customer only. Listening must be their primary task with a view to long-term relationships.

They should be mentored by your top salespeople.

They should always have access to you and to your staff.

You must pay more than lip-service to sales training. Ensure that they are learning the leading-edge techniques on prospecting, including Direct Marketing techniques.

They must be learning powerful probing skills, rapport and trust building. They need to know how to handlt all the objections in your industry, cold. They need several powerful methods to get the order, close the sale. They must learn how to control their state - something I call - mental mastery.

They must see you at your best, always. That includes your dress, your attitude, your dealing with others; like never speaking negatively behind the back of another salesperson.

You must teach them the importance of attitude management. They must develop the top methods for snapping back from a bad sales call. They must learn how to incorporate humour into their daily lives.


Push Their Emotional Triggers

Not every technique will work for everyone. Even the least experienced manager will know that what works for one person might not for another. Howard Cracower, an experienced sales manager client of mine in Toronto, Canada knows that Sandy does not respond to things the same way Fran does.

Sandy likes the motivational-type talks. Howard has a way of imparting at the morning sales meetings. Fran, on the other hand, is pumped up with the sales contests that allows her to become more productive because of her emotional trigger of financial incentive.


Find Everyone's Emotional Triggers

Here are a few triggers I have discovered:
  • Recognition : This trigger is pretty obvious to detect. The person craves applause. They love to be seen as successful. They usually drive the red sports car. They wear the fancy jewellery and stylish clothes. They must be noticed. So, take notice!
  • Power : This trigger is seen in how much a person is willing to expand to influence a situation. This trigger appeals to the person's sense of wanting authority. They want to be in charge and dislike loss of control.
  • Safety : This trigger is fostered by a need to be secure. It is usually focussed on the future and making things safe.
  • Status : Similar to Recognition, this emotional trigger seeks those status sysmbols that let others know they have arrived. They hate being part of the crowd. They don't want to buy, use, or win anything that is available to others. They are into "unique".
  • Relationships : Some people are into being friends. This is most obvious in their need to be reassured that they matter. They want to know that they are needed, appreciated, trusted, enjoyed and generally liked. They are often perceived as needing a hug. They want acceptance.

Guidelines To Successful Recruiting

Always be on the lookout. There is never a time when you aren't available to sell someone on joining your team.

Tell others that you are always looking to help someone become rich.

Get your existing salespeople enrolled to helping you find good people. Consider paying them for recommending the right person.

Hire only people who absolutely are in love with selling. Offer more training than your competition offers.

Give your salespeople what they want. Some want money, some want recognition, some want education, some want opportunity for advancement. Give them what they want.

Know what you are looking for and what type of person will fit your corporate culture. Get your existing, salespeople involved in the selection process.

Have them meet your prospective recruit. Then have them send personal notes stating that they would love to work with them.


WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A SALES RECRUIT

Look for someone who is:
  • Attractive;
  • Well-dressed;
  • Willing to learn;
  • Hungry to succeed;
  • A people person;
  • Extrovert;
  • Wants to make a lot of money;
  • Willing to do whatever it takes;
  • Optimistic;
  • Thinks big;
  • Ambitious;
  • Entrepreneurial;
  • A creative problem-solver;
  • Self-confident (not afraid to work hard);
  • Balanced in his/her personal life;
  • Somewhat rebellious and not a crowd-follower; and
  • Self-disciplined.
Find this kind of person and you are on your way to building a solid team. Find several of these types and you are on your way to sales management stardom.


RULES FOR BEING A GOOD SALES MANAGER

  • Be the best yourself;
  • Demand 100 percent from yourself;
  • Develop a reputation as a person who is personally self-disciplined. This will win you respect;
  • Build self-confidence;
  • Be a learner. Always attend seminars, reading, listening to positive tapes;
  • Look for people who are better at selling than you. Get confident and secure enough to find smarter, more attractive, more skilled people;
  • Really care for your people; from the heart;
  • Ask more than telling;
  • Always be on the lookout to recruit solid, talented salespeople;
  • Don't be harsh. Build on their strengths;
  • Find out what their goals are and help them keep those goals in focus. Help them get those goals;
  • Help them deal with lost sales and failures by taking every thought captive;
  • Evaluate specific behavious not vague generalities about nebulous terms like "attitude, mindset", and the like;
  • Give them personal attention. Send personal notes to them. Cut out relevant and helpful articles and make copies for them;
  • Smile more;
  • Remind them that you are there to help them;
  • Never be defensive;
  • Encourage them to share their challenges with you;
  • Show respect;
  • Give them incentives for top performance;
  • Praise them individually in public more;
  • Learn and teach them more effective prospecting skills. Show them how to be a magnet to hot prospects. If you don't know how, drop me a line, I'll show you how;
  • Encourage more;
  • Have more uplifting sales meetings. Start the meeting with a positive guest speaker or listen to a portion of video or audio tape;
  • Teach them to deal with rejection; and
  • Remember that you can't listen and talk at the same time.








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Gerry
Mr. Gerry Robert
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