Content Officer

Keeping Sales Simple

For those of us working in the exciting world of sales, we are all too familiar with the pressures of meeting our daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals. This pressure can sometimes cause us to loose focus on the simple things that made us successful to begin with.

When we make a sales presentation, it is all too essential to look and sound the part. A professional appearance and product knowledge are to very important ingredients involved in sales.

But don’t ever loose sight of the fact that sales is supposed to be fun!

A personal story . . .

I can remember a time a few years back, when I was managing a bank branch inside a supermarket, otherwise known as In-Store banking.

At that time, we had daily goals that we were required to meet, and those goals were unit and dollar driven. It was a fast paced environment and every technique we could think of was incorporated into our sales. Nothing was taken for granted.

Including the simple stuff.

One particular afternoon I received a phone call from a woman who informed me that she was new to the area, and she was shopping around for a bank.

We had a pleasant conversation, and I explained to her all of our products starting with our free checking, and ending with our more exclusive products.

Once the conversation was over, she thanked me and told me she would consider us.

I thanked her as well, and ended by telling her my name again, and that she could ask for me, if she decided to come in.

The next day, that same woman walked into my branch and asked for me, she reminded me of the conversation we had the day before, and than proceeded to tell me that she came in because I was so nice on the telephone.

The fact is, I was really nice on the telephone, I knew I had a potential customer on the phone and I killed her with kindness. Not because I was being slick, but because it was easy, it was simple, and I had fun doing it. And it worked.

There was no selling involved in that conversation. I was just being a nice person.

Salesmanship is important, but people want kindness to.

My point is, take some of the pressure off of yourself and start having fun! Be nice, smile. It is not always necessary to act and speak so professionally, it can come off fake, and worst of all boring. So starting tomorrow, take a load off, roll up your sleeves, smile, laugh out loud, and most of all have fun and keep it simple!

The average decision-maker has an attention span of just a little over seven minutes. I’m convinced that adult attention spans have been carefully programmed by network television, by the seven to eight minute time segments of entertainment, wedged between commercial breaks. On the other hand, the average sales presentation in the United States runs from one and a half to two hours in length. As a sales manager, you should easily figure out what’s wrong with this picture.

Those of you with complex products or services, or with large product lines may be saying to yourself, that it takes at least an hour to demonstrate all of the features and benefits of what it is you sell and another 20 to 30 minutes for questions and answers, right? Well, if you want more sales, help your staff to cut the length of their presentations down appreciably.

The $elling Edge®, Inc.’s Sales Success Strategies workshop, teaches a six-step selling process that can be completed, no matter how complex the product or service, in 30 minutes or less. We speed up the selling process, not only because of a decision-maker’s lack of attention , but more important, so that a sales professional can make more presentations in a given time period. And, the more presentations made over time, the more sales that are consummated.

You do the math. If a sales representative averages one and a half to two hours for each presentation as compared to an average of 30 to 40 minutes, how many more presentations can your staff make each year? How many more sales?

The six-step selling process, taught in the Sales Success Strategies workshops, is outlined in detail in a self-directed learning manual of the same name. You can learn more about it at: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/manual1.htm

VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. an Ohio consulting firm specializing in sales and sales management training, personal coaching, advisory services and publishing. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Service Linen Supply, Bank One, Jefferson Wells International, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of the “best selling” Building & Closing the Sale, Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publications a division of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching, telemarketing, and personal productivity manuals. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden’s latest books, 101 Sales Myths or Organizing For Sales Success, go to: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/

I did a teleconference a few weeks ago with people who were new in sales and new to prospecting. The focus of the call was to help participants get beyond fear and understand their prospecting process.

One of the participants on the call told me that she had been given the telephone prospecting script that her team leader uses to set appointments. The team leader was a highly successful sales professional who had been in the business for many years and made quite a lot of money. The participant, who had been in the business for approximately a week, told me that she was going to work with the script and “make it her own.”

“No!” I cried out. “Don’t do that! Don’t make it your own!”

My reasoning? This participant was a beginner. She knew nothing about sales or prospecting. She had a script that was crafted by someone who was highly successful on the telephone. This particular participant did not know enough to make it her own. More than likely, in making the script her own she would eliminate all of the powerful, persuasive and motivating language used by the sales super star who had given her the script.

Some words are better than others. Some words are stronger and more evocative than others. When you are on the phone with a prospect, you have about 10 seconds to grab and hold your prospect’s attention. If you do not do that within that first 10 seconds, your call is more than likely over. If you get through that first 10 seconds, that buys you another 10 seconds. If you get through that 10 seconds it buys you yet another… and so on… 10 seconds is not a lot of time. To get through those 10-second increments, you want to use the most powerful words that you have at your disposal.

If you are a beginner it is entirely possible, indeed even likely, that you may not be comfortable with certain powerful words or phrases. They may be very unlike your usual way of speaking. Even if you’ve been in sales for a while you might be set in your ways, accustomed to a certain delivery, and changing that might feel uncomfortable.

I’ve met many people who say they do not want to work with scripts because then they “cannot be themselves.” Remembering that your prospecting call happens in 10-second increments, you want to be the very best self that you can be, every time. That requires preparation.

One of the things that I’ve always loved about being inis sales is that it is crystal clear. You always know exactly where you are. You are either scheduling appointments, or you’re not. You are either closing, or you’re not.

If you are new to sales and a successful professional gives you their scriptdon’t change a word. That script will be your gold mine. If you’ve been in sales for a while and want to try out a new script, test it first. Your old script becomes your baseline. For example, make 30 prospecting calls using your usual script and keep track of the number of appointments that you schedule. Then make 30 more prospecting calls using your new script exactly as written. Keep track of the number of appointments that you schedule. At the end of those 60 calls you will know which script works better. That becomes your new baseline.

© 2005 Wendy Weiss

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling & Selling Success,” is a sales trainer, author, and sales coach. Her recently released program, “Cold Calling College”, and/or her book, “Cold Calling for Women”, can be ordered by visiting http://www.wendyweiss.com Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy’s free e-zine at www.wendyweiss.com

Here we are, at the final chapter so to speak. Today, lets talk more on how you go about utilizing the potential for “Relationship Selling”.

You know I’ve done this myself more times than I can count. When people point out the obvious to me, a little alarm goes off in the back of my head saying “You knew that”! Sometimes it’s the most obvious things you overlook. So, when that little voice says that to you, just think right back, “Well, why didn’t I use it then”?

I started last week with a couple of tips which we’ll recap quickly and then move on to some more Tips & Techniques for Relationship Selling.

Steer clear of the “I’m here to sell you something” approach. Since the beginning of the Television era, people have been trampled with Sales and Advertising. Most will shut you down before you can get ever get started.

See yourself as a guide if you will. You’re there to assist and lead them to their final destination, your product or service. You are there to help them, not sell them!

Don’t vocally paint yourself into a “What’s it gonna be?” corner. If you use direct sales or hard persuasion techniques that’s exactly what it comes down to, and you better be prepared!

Remember, “Relationship Selling” is not something you turn off and on like a light switch. It’s a way of life. Although we are focusing on your business here, the theories behind Relationship Selling can apply to all facets of your life.

Go in with the client, not after a client. If you enter the relationship assuming that they are already a client, you’ll be less apt to try and sell them, and more apt to building a relationship.

Moving onward and upward….

Often “Relationship Selling” starts in social settings. People used to ask me what I did, an I would answer abruptly “I do freelance Perl Programming and Web Design on the Internet”. So what’s wrong with this picture? The easiest way to show you, is to answer it again the right way. “We provide small businesses with low cost alternatives to expensive Internet development”. Ok, which sounds better? I hope you said number two. If not you have a lot of work in front of you. Rule of thumb: Never tell that what you are, tell them how you can help. In this case, I have aligned myself with the small business person, who is my target market, but at the same time, I have expressed that I am helping, not selling.

Did you notice that I didn’t use any technical terms or words that are difficult to understand. Dump all the techno-garbage and those terms that nobody really gets. If you’re using them because you think you are impressing them, welcome to the real world. It’s called “Frustration”. How would you enjoy spending lunch listening to somebody and not understanding half of what they say. Oh yea, I’m buying your thingamajigger…

Listen to your prospect. The more they say, the better you can anticipate their needs and wants. Most often their needs and wants are two different things. Their needs are their bottom line, while their wants are top of the line. Don’t try to sell them what they need, make it clear that you can give them what they want, how they need it.

When using Relationship Selling stay away from “Power Words”. You have phrases like “productivity”, “competitive advantage”, “your bottom line” and on down to the hard sale oldies like “MAKE MONEY NOW”, “Revolutionary Product” or even “Sensational New Offer”. These power words have their place in advertising headlines, but not here.

A sure fire way to know if their is something wrong with your relationship selling approach is to examine the relationship you have with current clients. Was the relationship the same before they became your client as it was after? Did you then lack confidence that you now exhibit (afterwards), while showing them you really are as good as you said your were? You are probably losing customers from exhibiting that lack of confidence going in. Perhaps you’re the opposite, you’re actually more confident with the sell, than you are with the service or product. In that case, I would have to say it’s time to change products. Nevertheless, confidence is the key note here. Your listener must know you are confident enough to introduce it, for them to be confident enough to buy it.

I’m one of those rare breed who sometimes enjoy listening to telemarketers and insurance agents (to a point). Not for any sales tips I can use, but for any bad habits I may still unwittingly be using. When it comes to Hard Sales, these guys are like dinosaurs. If any part of their sales pitch starts to sound familiar, stop and re-examine your Relationship Selling. Point being; Be sure that those annoying little sales pitches don’t ring a bell with your own approach. Sometimes it can be downright hard not to come off sounding like a salesman.

All kinds of things can build or destroy a good relationship. This is where the word “Alignment” comes in. You must align yourself with your prospective client. If your prospective client is a frat house and you’re in the DJ business, you would hardly show up in a suit and tie, unless of course you want these boys to eat you alive. On the other hand you don’t want to meet the president of an accounting firm wearing sandals and a tie-dye tee shirt either. But it goes much farther than appearance. It’s in your language, your mannerisms and the way you move. Everything about you should align with what your client needs to see and hear.

Most relationships in your life are built without a second thought. It’s simple action-reaction. Two strangers meet. One says “good morning” (action), the other responds “good morning to you” (reaction). Soon you’re talking about what you do for a living and so on. A simple, subconscious event. Action-Reaction starts a relationship, but planned action-response relationships often require research and planning. You want to lead the conversation in a certain direction, so you know the response to their reaction to cue the next reaction-response. Remember, you’re a guide. Lead the conversation in the direction you want, without using sales pitches, buzz words or mentioning products or services. The trick is to lead them to the point of asking you what you want to tell them.

There is only so much I can get across in this article, but throughout this series of three articles I have been recommending a book by Rick Beneteau. If you would like to learn more on “Relationship Selling” & “Personal Branding”, I strongly urge you to read his Powerful new book that puts YOU on the fast track to becoming an Internet Celebrity. Not only does Rick teach you step- by-step how he did it; he also asked many of the top Internet personalities to share their success secrets with you. If you’re at all serious about achieving success on the Internet, you need to start Branding YOU and Breaking the Bank! Do yourself a favor. Check It Out at: <http://www.roibot.com/bybb.cgi?IM4069_iz>

There it is again. Your biggest hurdle to getting appointments. The telephone seems to be sitting there on your desk mocking you as if it knows you just hate to pick it up and use it to ask for an appointment with your prospects. You wish you had some way to make the experience of lead generation more enjoyable by sending something out to your prospect first and yet you know that most of your efforts have been costly, time-consuming, and ineffective. It’s now another Monday and you have to fill your week with appointments or else you’re out of a job or out of business

Guess what? There is a way to make those cold calls warmer, enjoyable, and more productive. It just takes a little creativity to warm up the coldest prospect and get them talking to you on the phone. It doesn’t cost much to do and if done correctly can earn you as high as a 40-50-60% appointment ratio or higher.

Today’s business prospects are hungry for information, but they are just too busy from job demands that most just want to eliminate you as quickly as possible. That’s why the “Prospect Release” fits the bill when it comes to lead generation. Getting the attention of your prospect and getting them to meet with you will become much easier.

The “Prospect Release” is simply an adaptation of the press release along with a few other pages of attention-grabbing material. The idea is to deliver enough interesting and stimulating information to your prospect that they actually look forward to your call for an appointment.

Striking Gold

So what is a “Prospect Release” and how do you use it?

The “Prospect Release” is comprised of 4 pages that are either mailed or faxed to your prospect. They are: the prospect/press release; a biography; a question and answer sheet, and a cover page which is optional. Each one serves an important purpose that shows how much you understand your prospect and how well you can deliver a knock-out solution for them and their company.

• Hook them with a WOW headline. One of the pages you will be sending is a prospect/press release. This page should look like a regular press release only from the standpoint of having your name and contact information appearing at the top of the page - that’s it. The key is to include a headline that captivates your prospect and shows how another client in your prospect’s industry solved a problem. Make it interesting and about something that your prospect wants. The rest of the release should really be a story about one of your customers and how your product/service solved a problem. The key is to not make it sound like a sales pitch - it has to be about your client. Make sure that you double space the complete release. Almost all busy prospects want to know what you can do for them quickly. Less is more. If you can’t tell a story in 3 double-spaced paragraphs that makes them want what you sell, then they won’t want to meet you.

• Tell a story about yourself. Now it’s time to sell you in a small way. Ever notice how much you like to read the short biography that’s located in the inset cover page of books in general? Even if you don’t skim the contents of the book you just can’t help but read the biography. This page should be about your expertise and why you are qualified to be speaking about your product/service. In it you should communicate to your prospect that you are not just another salesperson but someone that can bring great value to them. Explain your credentials, but more importantly tell a little history of how you came about working in your industry, and make it as personable as you possibly can. Be humble, speak softly but carry a big stick, or be prepared for this technique not to work. No one really wants a conceited BMOC (big man or woman on campus) as their sales rep.

To see a sample of my bio go to: www.emdco.com/mediaroom.html

• Move your prospect to YES. The Q&A page. Here’s where you list the 10 most common questions and give them the answers. You can even address some common objections by rephrasing them as questions and providing the answer. Let’s face it all your prospect really cares about at this stage of the game is that they can disqualify you so they don’t have to waste their time. You will be much better off if you can address what is really on their minds right from the beginning. And the Q&A can actually save you time in the sales cycle. It shows that you have nothing to hide and can be trusted.

• Make them feel even more important. The cover sheet (optional). Use this page when you’re trying to be even more personal when faxing out your prospect release. A short hand-written note with the prospect’s name and a signature communicates that this is not a mass mailing. I usually write a note that says something like, “Ms. Jones, I thought you might be interested in how a fellow technology company was able to increase their b2b lead generation by 43%.” Sincerely, David

Don’t use company letterhead. My research shows that plain vanilla is the way to go. Any logos or corporate names will defeat the significance of your message. The idea is to be different. How many of your prospects get handed a press release with a personalized cover letter?

Now that you have the essentials down, work on writing your copy. It should be all about your prospect and their industry. When it comes time to follow-through with a call, all you have to do is introduce yourself as the one that sent the fax and ask for the appointment.

David Wells is a business development expert, speaker, trainer, consultant and founder of http://www.emdco.com a provider of business-to-business lead creation, data confirmation and integrated marketing solutions. You can subscribe to “The Business Promoter’s Tips of the Week” ezine at subscribe@emdco.com.

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There is a new trend in the way wood decks are constructed; composite decks and railings. Recently had the opportunity to go on a bidding job with a deck cleaning contractor to bid on cleaning and treating a large deck. When we got there we found out the deck was not made of wood at all; it was made of composite. There was nothing to treat unless of course you want a spray with armor all. It did clean rather nicely kind of like washing a plastic fence. The new trend in composite railings has come about because the final railings do a better job facing down the elements and therefore owners and contractors often decide to put in the composite railings even though there are slightly more expensive because they look great for much longer.

Composite railings that are built too long between posts generally have a problem with separation so the posts seem to be closer together, when they are not debris gets inside any between the spaces often bugs crawl and it makes a general mess, when cleaning composite railings you may notice quite a bit of dirt coming down between the cracks and therefore it takes a lot more Flushing Power to clean the deck than it would a wood only deck. When using more water you have twice the chance of flooding the vegetation below if there is any in this case there was, one of the most beautiful flower gardens I have seen in any middle-class neighborhood. We would need to cover the flowers and find proper drainage for the excess water or actually uses squirt bottle and do them by hand. We imagine that if the lady watched us use a squirt bottle, that she would probably throw our butts out in the cul-de-sac.

One of the composite railings that we’ve been most impressed with has been from Crystal White Corporation. Their weather best natural wood vinyl is sturdy and attractive and very easy to clean, almost too easy almost like we should not even charge for clean Crystal White also makes docks which attached to concrete walk ways. The “U” beam construction makes it very easy clean and just in case we screw up is guaranteed for 10 years. Although I would say is very hard to screw up since you not need chemicals to clean it, therefore it is nearly impossible to damage wall washing. Crystal White Corporation has post every 6 to 8 feet therefore the expansion and contraction of the composite does not seem to be an issue or cause separation. Unfortunately we have also noticed that is very low maintenance and is not need to be cleaned every year, so we’re losing a few sales but it looks magnificent when completed in since it is not made of wood but rather a composite wood polymeric substrate capped with co-extruded PVC it never needs sanding, painting or coating.

It will not fade and it never yellows, like we have seen some plastic fences do. It is guaranteed against cracking, peeling, insects, warping, rotting, and water damage.

http://www.weatherbest.lpcorp.com/win.html .

The railing comes in several colors; Pacific Cedar, Western Redwood and driftwood gray and what we saw was White and looked very real. The plastic even has a wood grain texture to it. And although we did not see Crystal White’s docks, their composite decking is truly incredible. We understand that Crystal White Corporation has recently licensed their product to Strandex Corporation for other wood grains. Another good thing about weather best composite decking is that it contains no copper, chromium or arsenic in its material like many pressure treated woods to.

What we like about washing it is they cannot splinter, check or come apart using a normal pressure washer with hot or cold water under 3000 P.S.I.. So it cleans very fast, needless to say if your bidding a job on the phone for a five-star resort, golf course or Marina and then you show up and see that it is composite you’ll make a ton of money in a very short amount of time, be sure to bid by the job and not by the hour. So when you’re completed you’ll feel like God and say “…and it was Good.” I almost feel like calling up the composite deck, Dock, railing and fence manufacturers and dealer reps to get a list of all commercial buildings which have installed their product because I know that is some high profit cleaning.

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Telemarketing is one of the misunderstood and misused forms of marketing, which is in part, why we have a national “do not call list.” If you use it correctly, telemarketing can produce tremendous results for almost any business. Yet, if you mismanage an attempt to sell products or services by phone, or let an outside company do it for you in haste, you will lose a lot of money and jeopardize your relationships with your customers.

Telemarketing works best when you prepare the way for it with a sales letter or advertisement that causes prospects to write to you for more information. Once you know who is interested enough to at least return a coupon, request a free report, or request more information through your Web site, you have pre-qualified your prospects and can turn their names over to your telemarketing team. By doing this, your telemarketers won’t be calling blindly, or simply calling from a cold list.

A pre-mailing isn’t critical when you want to call existing customers, but since there is so much negativity about telemarketing in general, it never hurts to let an existing customer know in advance that you’ll be calling him or her at a later date. I promise you that in most cases this simple courtesy will be appreciated by your existing customers, which will go a long way in making future sales.

Never jump into a large scale telemarketing campaign without first testing it on a smaller scale. I’ve seen many companies lose a tremendous amount of money when they didn’t test their offer before rolling it out. Don’t just test the offer, test the script as well.

When you are putting a script together, remember that the caller will have approximately thirty seconds to convince the prospect or customer to listen to him or her. Therefore, there must be an opening statement that will capture the prospect or customer’s interest. This statement needs to convey who you are, what you want, and why the prospect or customer should listen.

Whether your own telemarketing staff is making the calls or you’re using an outside company always make sure the people who are calling begin their conversations by asking your prospects or customers a few questions. But, the caller should always ask permission from the prospect or customer first, before asking any questions. When the caller does this, it will put the prospect or customer more at ease.

Never start with pointed questions or go straight to the offer, because this will immediately trigger a “no.” Begin with broad questions that relax the prospect or customer. Then your questions can become more specific as the prospect or customer reveals certain needs and concerns.

Then, build upon the previous answers. The caller’s feedback will show the prospect or customer that the caller is listening to him or her. Make sure the callers balance their number and type of questions. Asking too few questions isn’t good, but asking too many questions can make the prospect or customer impatient for the caller to get to the point.

Make sure your callers don’t ask manipulative questions, such as, “of course you would like to save 50%, on the product, wouldn’t you?” These types of questions insult the prospect or customer’s intelligence.

Once the prospect or customer has loosened up, you can move to your offer, but present your offer just as naturally and conversationally as you began the conversation. Never let one of your telemarketers be argumentative, pushy, or demanding. Make sure your callers are always relaxed, conversational and that they always let the prospect or customer finish talking.

Also, tell your callers not to address the people they call by their first name, and not to try any gimmicks, like saying they’re returning the prospect’s or customer’s call, or saying that one of the prospect’s or friend’s asked them to call. Professional practice, complete honesty, and candor are always the best policy.

The key to successful telemarketing is for your callers to have the right tone, pace, and believability. If your telemarketers sound too pushy at one extreme, or too timid at the other, they are setting themselves up for easy rejection by the prospect or customer.

Always make sure your telemarketers emphasize in every call they make that they are calling the prospect or customer for his or her benefit. If a telemarketer loses sight of the prospect or customer’s self-interest, there will be very little chance of making a sale.

Even with all the negativity today surrounding telemarketing, if you prime your prospects or customers with a mailing before you call them, and your callers project respect, warmth and believability in every call, telemarketing is one of the most powerful sales tools you can use.

Copyright©2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many of America’s largest corporations, on the subjects of leadership, self-esteem, goals, achievement, and success psychology.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

Sales people who have clear objectives, the required competencies, and a supportive working environment still require a level of desire, willingness and positive thinking to complete tasks or sales activities in order to optimize performance. This state of willingness could be restated as motivation, the mental game or the internal forces that affect the outcomes, intensity and perseverance of a sales person’s voluntary behavior.

Sales Managers need to evaluate each sales person’s motivation, skills and the thinking supporting them due to shifting corporate goals and competitive threats. Given that there is a broad range of individualistic practices within the sales population, it is likely that each sales person is motivated in different ways and a good sales manager or sales leader, according to my experience, has the responsibility to identify those differences and leverage the individual potential from each and every sales person.

In David C. McCelland’s theory of learned needs he suggests that achievement, affiliation and power are the important sources of motivation. As he suggests, however, high achievers are self-motivated to high levels of achievement while low achievers require direction and reinforcement from others. He goes on to say that employees can learn to become more achievement oriented but recognizes that there are different types of employees bringing a balance to our social framework.

This is why it is so key that sales managers understand sales people for the individuals that they really are. Daniel Goleman, who has done extensive work in the area of Emotional Intelligence, suggests that those employees with potential are motivated by a desire to achieve for the sake of achievement and states further that managers with strong emotional intelligence are themselves self-motivated individuals - These principles should then apply to sales people and sales managers.

If motivated sales people are more willing to exert certain effort over a period of time in order to achieve a goal, then what role does the sales manager have in his or her interaction with that sales person?

It is important for sales managers to have a grasp of each sales person level of ability and motivation according to Dr. Paul Hersey. He suggests that the ownership of the task between the sales manager and the sales person be shared in accordance to the various possible levels of both ability and readiness. A training company named Gilmore and Associates devised a model that incorporates these notions and I have worked with them to further its usefulness.

It is important that a sales manager determines what the over all ability of a sales person is prior to attempting to teach, share or transfer the key aspects of the tasks to that employee.

The same holds true for motivation but I would suggest that the aspects of motivation are often overlooked by sales manages as it is the more difficult of the two to identify and manage. Just as with ability an evaluation of motivation should be considered and then skillfully engage, encourage and recognize the mental game and thinking of each individual sales person.

[I believe that ability is mind to hand while motivation is mind to heart. Think of it this way - Sales Performance equals Ability (Mind to Hand) times Motivation (Mind to Heart) or SP=A(MH)XM(MH)]

Sales managers often remedy performance issues with more skills training when from my experience more often than not the underlying performance issue is the thinking and motivation of the sales person. This generally means the wrong solution for the wrong problem incurring more overhead cost, lost opportunity cost and often a further slippage in the motivation of the sale person.

Different levels of the sales person’s ability will mean a different coaching style on behalf of the sales manager in order for the task to be completed at the required level of performance. Lower ability will mean more sales manager involvement and a specific teaching style will be necessary. As ability increases so too does the ownership of the task by the sales person increase, as he or she will begin to determine what is required in order to complete it. A sharing style becomes the most commonly used style by sales managers during this next phase. As the sales person’s ability level optimizes the role of the sales manager shifts more to a transferring style. Involvement of the sales manager is far less and ownership for the task is now primarily that of the sales person.

Typically the same holds true for levels of motivation (M) with respect to the same task although the characteristics and processes for engaging it are more emotional than behavioral. It is here that the passion for sales managing sales people comes to the forefront.

Sales managing a sales person with low motivation will require a nurturing sales manager, one that will engage in the values and principles of the sales person more so than technical abilities for that task. I believe that emotional factors have to engage the sales person’s values in order to stimulate the whole sales person. As the sales person’s motivation improves you follow through with encouragement reinforcing the positive and helping them see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. At the highest level of motivation you simply recognize their capability supporting them to the highest possible level of success.

A sales person with high ability and motivation with respect to a specific task is more apt to have higher levels of success with the role of the sales manager being that of a provider of information or in a position to just delegate and reward with little need for intense interaction.

As a sales manager’s proficiency increases with the use of this model, his or her competency at identifying the issues of ability and motivation will also increase. This will provide the sales manager with an advantage as he or she mentors and coaches his or her sales people for greater results. For the longest time I have used this model intuitively but from time to time I have been known to reference a wallet size cheat sheet that I have carried with me for at least twenty years. A real testimonial to the Gilmore model!

Ron Foss is the Director of Operations of SalesDialogue Systems Inc. a company committed to assisting sales professionals better understand how their thinking and internal conversations impact sales success. Learn more at http://www.salesdialogue.com He is also the Senior Partner of EQ Management Group committed to improving management capability and more information can be discovered at http://www.eqmg.com

While there’s no easy answer to this question, there are a few basic points, known as the Training Discrepancy Model, which illustrate key areas that must be targeted for your company’s training investment to be 100% effective.

First, think of a triangle. The points of the triangle will be Skills, Individual Motivation, and Corporate Support.

Skills. In order for an individual to be 100% successful he/she must possess proper skills. It is the responsibility of the company to identify the proper skills necessary to succeed. How do we do that?

Identify the job function. Identify all the specific functions that a given job will entail.

Benchmarks. Set benchmarks for each one of the job functions. Benchmarks are simply the acceptable level of expertise necessary to succeed. If we have 5-6 different job functions, you would therefore have 5-6 different benchmarks.

Once benchmarks are set, management can then determine the skills necessary for each job function in order to hit those benchmarks. We need a global view of the job in order to understand what skills are necessary.

Individual motivation. As a sales manager you must create an environment to optimize the salesperson’s personal performance on a daily basis. You can do that by conducting one-on-one meetings with the salespeople after returning from training classes. During these sessions discuss what they’ve learned, and how they can utilize the day-to-day philosophies in order to increase productivity.

Motivation comes from within. Sandler training teaches that attitude and behavior are key concepts needed to succeed as a salesperson. Without personal motivation it doesn’t matter what skills are being taught by the training company or reinforced by management.

Corporate support. Corporate support is very important in order for training to succeed. Training needs to be a process, not an event. It can’t be viewed from the salesperson’s perspective as a “and this too shall pass” program. At times, corporations striving to allow as many programs as possible have a flavor-of-the-month mentality. Corporate support would include things such as:

Reinforcement

Debriefing

Running sales meetings

Management participating in the training

Debriefing alone will create a culture that reinforces whatever training is being taught and will show corporate support. Salespeople on the street will realize that managers are continually following through on the concepts that are being taught.

Therefore, if we want to make sure that our people are getting the most out of their training in today’s environment, and we want to maximize the investment of company dollars, it’s critical to focus on these three areas: proper skills, individual motivation and corporate support. When all three components are targeted by management, training dollars are well spent and both management and salespeople will be pleased with the results.

©2002 Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dan Hudock is an owner of the Sandler Sales Institute in Pittsburgh, PA. He can be reached at (724) 940-2388 or dan@sandler.com. His web site is: http://www.dan.sandler.com