Value Strategy News: How Strong is your Sales and Marketing Team?

The Business Value of Your Company
is Not the Product or Service you
Sell . . . It Is The Strength of
Your Sales and Marketing Team

"Good salespeople in poor sales programs . . .
always fail"

By Paul DiModica

I hear from VP's of Sales every week who work for Global 1000 players, small start-ups or family-run businesses -- finding good salespeople is very difficult. But like a professional athlete, when you find a great salesperson, you have a franchise player. They can pull your entire team upward to a higher level of performance.

Yet the ability for great salespeople to succeed on demand is many times dependent on other attributes beyond their own sales skills, business experiences, and controls.

Like professional athletes, salespeople may have previous training, previous experience, and a resume that indicates they should be a successful heavy hitter, yet they still can fail.

Is your firm making successful salespeople fail?

This specific issue affects every sales manager, VP of Sales or CEO who is trying to build a replicable, scalable sales model to increase corporate product or service sales.

When seeking the successful salesperson, you interview, check references, analyze candidates through psychological tests, and search for hidden motivations. Then you hire the best salesperson available at the time of your open sales requisition.

Most sales management teams then hope the new sales executive is going to pay for themselves quickly. But if the new sales account manager is not hitting their numbers 180 days into their employment, the management team starts talking about them in hushed conversations behind closed doors wondering whether they should cut their losses and let the new account manager go.|

But is it the salesperson's fault they are
missing their sales target numbers?

Maybe yes; maybe no!

Selling successfully requires more than the individual business and emotional characteristics that a salesperson can produce on their own. It also requires the company to be a participant and contributor in their success as well.

Yes, I'm confident you pay them well, but just because a sales rep is paid well does not mean management's involvement is over.

It is a misperception by management to believe increased corporate revenue is tied to hiring top performing, high paid experienced salespeople -- believing pow like a magic trick in Vegas you have instant sales quota capture.

Nope - it does not work that way!

For experienced salespeople to sell successfully (hit quota or higher), management must participate in their success.

Here are 7 reasons why many great salespeople fail. None of these variables have anything to do with the salesperson being lazy, unprofessional, or lacking the appropriate sales skills.

7 Reasons Why Good Salespeople Fail

The company they work for has no documented sales process.

Yes, you need to focus on specific sales techniques but sales training is not sales performance. Having a written sales process will help you and your team build a replicable, scalable sales program that can be duplicated over multiple prospects' buying cycles. Without a sales process, you end up with isolated sales techniques.
Sales training is not enough - sales learning is needed.

Interesting, 65% of companies say that they actively train their sales teams, but only 35% actually do it. Sales is a business profession. You must continually invest in your sales staff to drive performance. Sales training is a one time event; sales learning is ongoing education and investment in your revenue capture team.
Your sales education investment must at least equal other department educational investments.

Calculate the amount of money your firm invests per program in training and education for your other staff members (operations, HR, engineering, etc.) and compare it to the investment in sales education for your sales team. If there is variance, you have a sales skill gap.
Incorrect sales quotas prevent great salespeople from hitting their target.

Stop pressuring salespeople if your sales quotas or sales targets are based on assumptions. You must use qualified market demand analysis and existing sales metrics that can be documented to correctly forecast sales quotas that are attainable.
Management must supply salespeople with qualified sales leads.

Of course salespeople should cold call and network, but what about the marketing department generating inbound leads for the sales team. Technology, service and logistic companies spend huge amounts of money on marketing that normally creates only a trickle of inbound qualified sales leads.
Your market gap demand must be documented, not guessed.

Great salespeople cannot sell red shoes to blue shoe buying prospects. Just because you tell the sales team to sell your offerings to targeted prospects does not mean there is a buying demand.
Your firm must provide a selling environment that is motivational and positive.

Yes, good salespeople can be prima-donnas, but like professional athletes who have negotiated a big compensation contract, salespeople are not just interested in money. To make good salespeople sell more - make work interesting and conducive to their personal needs to compete and succeed.

Selling is a team sport. On any given day, when the team has practiced together and supports each other, anybody can win.

If management does not support good salespeople, they will fail.

    A mediocre salesperson tells;
    A good salesperson explains;
    A superior salesperson demonstrates;
    A great salesperson inspires the buyer to see the benefits as their own."
    --Anonymous

Follow Gerhard Vierthaler on twitter.

P.S. : We hope you enjoy the newsletter and encourage you to
share it with anyone you think might benefit from the
business and skill-building tips it provides.