“We’ve been in sales a long time, so we don’t really need any help with sales.”

This is what I heard from a member of a sales team I was hired to help develop sales knowledge and skills.  This team of 7 had never had any formal sales training at this particular company, they didn’t operate under an incentive program, and most of them really didn’t care about growth  (What was in it for them, anyway?)  What some of them had grown was comfortable with their less than mediocre performance and never wanting to change.

So I began by creating an incentive structure to help motivate the sales team toward caring about their sales performance (step 1).  Then I had to convince their sales manager why incentive pay is a basic tenet to sales performance (true story and sadly this felt like pulling teeth!).  Once the incentive pay was negotiated it was time to role this puppy out to the sales team (I was starting to feel the love…more money if we do well?!  Imagine that.) Finally I scheduled our team meeting for Q&A.

If you were sitting next to me in that meeting room you would’ve heard a mixture of fear, frustration, and excitement.  Some people were already anticipating their future performance and felt uneasy about tracking their sales results. 

“So we’re going to compare our sales results to that of our previous month’s performance and with those on our team?”

“Yes”, I replied. 

“What if my territory has more Medicaid payers than anyone else on the team, is that really fair?”

“Fair or not, you will need to create a unique strategy plan – you all will”, I told them.  Then followed numerous hypothetical scenarios about performance and the bonus plan.

Can you hear the cogs of this business starting to turn? There is movement and change on the horizon.  Measurable results!

Suddenly spreadsheets were being created and the team began analyzing their performance through numbers.  We had weekly meetings where they shared case studies and participated in problem solving with one another.  They wanted to know how other people were being successful (or not).  They were talking about sales.  They wanted to be better.

Whether you are a seasoned sales professional or a complete newbie, the road to excellence is always under construction. This means that successful sales professionals expect more from life and more from themselves.  Always.

Some of the people on this sales team I told you about wanted to be better.  They looked forward to learning new information they could apply to their daily performance.  But a few others initially didn’t like the idea of learning something new.  They preferred to think they “had arrived”; that they “knew sales” and their was nothing more to learn.  Really?

Reflection: How much do you want to succeed?  Do you expect to get from life without giving of your self?  Or, do you excel simply for the excitement of being better than you, and naturally reap rewards along the way?

If you are the sort who is interested in improving your personal sales performance, download this sales performance checklist and rate your self accordingly on a scale of 1-10.  Consider making copies for your sales team or share with your manager to show him or her where you are great and where/how you plan on improving.  Talk about being proactive and in control of your situation.  A leader!

I suggest picking no more than 3 things to improve at a time.  Give yourself 2-6 weeks to fully develop your new and improved selling skill!  Reward yourself when you’ve achieved success and then pick your next three areas.

As a sales professional you can readily guess the benefits for taking this advice: increased sales, bonus, recognition, confidence.  What can you lose if you don’t?  Sales, bonus, recognition, confidence.  Got that? 

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Part 3 of this article series has been a long time coming!  My ‘entrepreneurs disease’ has gotten me into a bit of trouble (good trouble – I think!) by becoming a co-founder of a clean technologies start-up.  My daily writing allotment has been consumed by preparing for the WI Governor’s Business Plan Contest for which our independent renewable energy system qualifies us as one of 21 finalists! Now that I have much of that writing under wraps, it feels good to be blogging again.  Thank you for your patience and continued readership!

Part 3 of this article series concerns demonstrating Sales Effectiveness.

Demonstrating sales effectiveness requires serious groundwork.  Revenue and cash flow are but tangible measures of a successfully implemented sales strategy.  And a successful sales strategy is one that delivers on the unique value proposition (UVP) set forth by leadership, and effectively branded by marketing (see Marketing Effectiveness).

Below are steps for aligning your sales efforts and/or sales force with the vision and UVP of your company to consistently demonstrate sales effectiveness year over year.

Determine your 5-year and 1-year revenue goals

Projections aside, what are your sales goals 5 years from now?  What is your desired result?  Get together with your executive team and determine your aim.  Sure it may be somewhere around projections, but maybe you can do better than that.  Your daily selling activities need to be in alignment with your written and communicated goal.

Create and communicate your company’s Unique Value Proposition

Ideally, your UVP should already be in place by the time you’re creating your sales strategy.  It should be on your company’s website and perfectly clear to everyone in the organization, especially the sales team.  Most importantly it should be very specific in terms of what kind of company you are (i.e. your scope of business), what products/services you specialize in offering, who you help, how you help, and your key value differentiator.

Think of it this way…your company’s UVP is to your sales team as your corporate vision is to your organization.  The UVP provides identity, direction and focus (focus on the customer!).

Would a member of your sales team be able to say what your company specializes in?  Does your sales team concur with the top three ‘pains’ your customers face?  The UVP is an effective tool for sticking to your sales message so you can brand and position your company’s value.

Decide what sales effectiveness processes are critical for improvement

As with all of your organization’s internal processes, your sales processes enable you to successfully deliver your UVP (aka strategy) to the market and achieve your revenue goals.

Which sales processes in your company need to be improved?  Below are some questions for your consideration:

• What mechanisms and activities are in place to support making connections with people both online and offline?
• Are we actively and consistently involved with at least one Social Networking site?
• Who is Speaking and positioning themselves as a thought leader in our industry?
• What events should we be hosting?
• How do our sales people stack up in professionalism with regard to appearance and behavior?
• How and with what are we educating the market on-line, as well as off-line with our sales force?
• How would we benefit if our sales professionals had their own blog/website?
• What are we currently doing to sell our products on-line?
• How do we rate our creativity and persuasion when selling?
• What sales training is necessary to improve selling skill and ability?
• Are our sales incentives appropriate and effective?
• Does our sales force understand their markets?
• Can we say that our sales professionals are experts on our products/services?
• Should we implement an internal blog for our sales force to support education and interaction? (I highly recommend this awesome performance mechanism!)

Examine what sales development initiatives need to be implemented

In my opinion, to sell effectively, sales professionals need training and development to support three core competencies: Interpersonal skills, Customer knowledge, and Product knowledge.

People with strong interpersonal skills don’t have to work as hard at selling or memorizing the sales process.  Strong interpersonal skills entail listening, empathy, and problem solving.  Yes…problem solving.  Don’t we place the highest value on those individuals who help us solve our problems?

I purposely mentioned customer knowledge before product knowledge.  It’s critical to understand the customer prior to providing them your product.  Train your sales people in this order so they can truly appreciate how your company helps your customers solve their problems.

Last but definitely not least, sales professionals must be product experts.  Their product knowledge is their credibility.  What good are your sales people to your company if they are not product experts…I don’t care how friendly or fun they are to talk to.

Always be developing these core competencies to grow sales and support internal processes.

Devise SMART goals around your sales process and development

Once you know which internal process and development objectives will support your UVP, you need to write them as specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and trackable goals.  I drive the “SMART” concept because all too often I see phrases written as goals. Phrases are not SMART.  Phrases will not hold us accountable like a SMART goal will.

Create and implement your sales plan

Get your plan on paper and distributed!  Make sure you know who is doing what activities to achieve which SMART goal, and by what date.  Use your written plan as a follow-up tool on progress at least monthly. Be sure to assign a measurement to each goal for tracking and progress reporting.

Sales effectiveness is not running to the market “willy nilly” with your product.  It is aligning sales goals and resources with your UVP you thoughtfully crafted as result of your market research and understanding of your customers’ needs.

Do your sales people know what your 1 and 5-year revenue goals are?

Do your sales people know your company’s UVP?

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