Sales Leadership | A Sales Guy

Fixing The Sales Team

Sales teams need to be fixed; they stop performing, the market changes, the company launches new products, the team becomes complacent, the organization grows too fast and becomes beauracratic. There are a number of reasons why sales organizations need to be fixed.

If the sales team is broken, there are two places to look to fix it, the environment or the people. How to determine where the problem lies traditionally escapes sales leaders. Sales management culture almost always makes it a people problem.

The three areas were sales organizations break are the systems and processes, the people, and the activities the team focuses on.

If you want to fix your team assess what is hapening in these areas.

Systems and processes is a situation problem, not a people problem. People are people problems and the activities the people focus on could be either.

To get it right evaluate all three.

Does the CRM System make it easy to manage an account? Are good training and educational systems in place? Does the sales process enable sales? Are the systems the problem?

Are the right people in place? Do they have the skills necessary for the job? Is there a talent gap? Is the sales team hunters when it needs to be farmers? Does the team have the right people on it?

Is the team doing what it’s supposed to? Is it making enough cold calls? Is it spending more time doing admin work than selling. Is the team partnering or playing lone wolf? Is the team engaging in the right activities?

To fix a sales team the right levers have to be pulled. Evaluate each of the areas independently. Sometimes it’s a people problem,sometimes it’s a behavior problem, sometimes it’s a situation problem. Sales leaders need to know which it is. Not knowing makes it a people problem.

March 5, 2010 | Filed under: Business Performance, Sales Leadership, Sales Process | Comments |

Sales Leaders; Got Your Coaching Hat On?

My friend Jen Ward wrote a post the other day about how to change behavior. It had this great quote in it;

“sales reps need to become comfortable with making others uncomfortable.”

I agree with her.

Someone also agreed with her and left this comment.

“This makes sense. I rarely ever push for a sale from a client, yet I routinely see companies who do a lower level of quality take sales away from me because they push the clients really hard. I’ve ended up with many clients who went with someone else to build their site and then a year later came back to me to fix what the first company did. Pretty much, all of my business comes from recommendations from previous clients or people I have already worked with.

I have a client today that is struggling with the decision to rebuild his 8 year old simplistic website (and poor artwork) with a well designed site able to handle all of the features he wants. Money doesn’t seem to be a factor. He is nervous with change. It’s summed up with “The unknown is scary”.

There are tons of “opportunities” in this comment. My coaching side just wants to take over. I can see a bunch of ways “Toff” could improve the way she sells.

What about you?

Based on the comment, how would you coach her?

February 6, 2010 | Filed under: Sales Leadership, Sales Process, Uncategorized | Comments |

Being Easy Pays Off

My first official sales job was slinging memberships at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. I am in debted to them in many ways. I don’t think I would have had the success I’ve had to date without that first job.

My job was simple. Sell Chamber memberships to Denver based companies. The memberships cost between 325 dollars and 10,000 dollars. Each level cost more and provided greater value to the company. To sell memberships was simple. You had to make a lot of calls. The more calls you made, the more deals you closed. There was really no trick to it. It wasn’t very complex. Make a lot of phone calls. Build your pipeline, be religious in the follow up and you would make your number.

What I liked most about the Chamber, however, was how easy it was to do your job. They made it easy to make all those calls. In many ways, they were the best run sales organization I’ve ever worked for. They didn’t bog you down with numerous meetings. Reporting was easy. You reported on your numbers once a week, in a simple spread sheet. Preparing your numbers was a snap, because there were only a handful of metrics. They never asked for reports mid-week or mid quarter. They learned to manage the numbers on the reports given weekly. There was very little unplanned intervention and never any fire drills.

I flourished in the environment. I broke numerous sales records during the year I was there. Every morning when I started my day, I knew exactly what I needed to accomplish to make my number and more. There were never any surprises. Less than 5% of my time was spent managing internal requests or processes. I was left to do my job. My time was mine to succeed or fail.

Not all companies subscribe to this philosophy and I think that is problem. The best thing a company and a sales organization can do for it sales people is make it easy to sell. Companies need to set clear simple goals; create clear, simple comp plans; minimize reporting to a few key metrics, and provide simple delivery processes. The more time spent not selling the less sales will be made.

Is sales easy in your company? Make it easy, it pays off.

December 10, 2009 | Filed under: Leadership, Sales Leadership, Sales Process | Comments |

The Two Types of Sales Organizations

There are two types of sales organizations. There is the sales business and then their is the sales team. They are similar in that they both are responsible for driving revenue. After that, there isn’t much more commonality. The difference is sales teams are driven by their needs. Sales Business is focused on the customer.

Sales Teams ask;

When are you going to close the deal?
Can you sell them more?
Can you bring that into this quarter?
What else can we sell them?
What if you cut them a deal, will they buy today?

Sales Teams Focus on;

The short-term
Their quota
The transaction
The product
Themselves and their company
Getting to yes
Winning and losing
The chase, the competition
What’s in it for them

Sales Businesses Ask:

What are you trying to accomplish?
What do you need to be successful?
How will the customer benefit?
Can we provide more value?
How does this help?
Why?

Sales Businesses Focus on;

The long-term
The market and industry trends
The solution
The deal
The customers business
The relationship
The outcome
The business
What’s in it for the customer

Sales teams are about the transaction. They are motivated by the money and what they get. Sales teams are rarely around after the sale. They ignore the data, if it doesn’t help their cause. Sales teams can drive a lot of revenue but often leave a big wake while doing so.

Sales businesses are about the solution. They are driven by the outcome. They measure their success on the benefit the customer received. They allow information to guide the sale, and bet on the long term. Sales businesses drive a lot of revenue, but they also drive a lot of business.

Who do you want selling to you?

October 20, 2009 | Filed under: Customer Service, Sales Process, The Chase | Comments |

Not Selling on Price Takes Guts

You can’t sell on price. This is nothing new. Every sales training talks about it. Every manager talks about it. Every book talks about it. Selling on price is the big sales taboo.

Not selling on price takes guts. To avoid selling on price you have to be able to say no. You have to tell your best customers they can’t have what you sell for that price. You have to be willing to risk not making your numbers. You have to be willing to lose the deal. Not selling on price takes guts few sales people, managers, V.P.’s of Sales and companies have. Few have the ability and courage to avoid selling on price. It’s too easy to succumb to the fear of losing. It’s too easy to say, just this time. It’s too easy to say you can’t afford to lose this deal. It’s too easy to say we can’t let the competition get this account. It’s too easy to come up with excuses. Selling on price isn’t hard to say it’s just hard to do and few have the guts.

October 11, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance, Sales Process | Comments |

Why Your Quota for Next Year Will Be Unrealistic!

Do you set quota? Do you set financial goals and plans for your organization? It’s getting to be that time again when sales and business leaders begin to look into their next fiscal year. Over the years I’ve noticed an interesting trend. When it comes to fiscal planning, leaders do one of two things, they pick a number they want to make, then figure out how they are going to make it or they look at the data and identify a number that is consistent with what the data tells them.

These are two very different approaches. The first one makes us feel good inside, because we’re getting what we want. We want to grow by 30%. So, we say that’s what we are going to grow by and then we ask the team to tell us how we are going to do it. It’s a game companies have been playing for years. I call it the pressure game. The board, or the PE firm or the street have performance expectations. They put pressure on the CEO and leadership team to make some number. The CEO/Executive team then turns around and puts pressure on the organization to make that number regardless. The leaders provide a number of reasons why they think goal or quota is possible, why it’s important to the organization and then pass the numbers down. Everyone is rallied around the grand goal, initiatives are put in place, strategies are created, and everyone charges the hill. People like this approach because they never have to say NO. Any hint at dissent and the dissenters are cast aside for not being on board. We take what we’re given and go for it. No push back, no challenging the status quo. The problem with this approach is it’s not grounded in anything. It’s driven by the emotional, political, or crisis needs of the organization.

The second approach, starts with the data. It starts with a solid understanding of the external environment. What does the macro-economic environment look like? Is the industry growing, flat, or shrinking? What is the competition doing etc. It also includes a thorough internal assessment. What is the team capable of? Do the resources exist to execute. Are the appropriate relationships established? Is the capital available to make the investments? Are the processes in place to support the goals, etc? Finally, it includes setting reality based goals based on the data and internal and external assessments. Aligning the information acquired in the assessments with the financial goals and targets creates a realistic set of goals. By setting realistic goals, strategies can be built, strategies that can be achieved. This approach is more difficult. It can put people at odds. It may not provide the number everyone wants to see. It forces the players to be real with their growth and quota goals.

What type of company is your company? What type of leader are you? Are you looking at setting a double digit growth goal for quota in FY10? If so, why? Have you considered the economy is expected to grow only 1.6%? Where is the additional 9% growth going to come from? Is there something in your sector that you are looking to exploit. If so, is your company prepared to respond? Are the processes in place to capitalize on the opportunity? What information are you using to determine quota? Do you play the pressure game? Do you succumb to the pressure? Do you pick your goals based on what feels good, or what is real?

One sure fire test to determine which you are is to ask this one question? Have you ever determined that growth was not possible and that a decline was inevitable? If the answer is yes, then you listen to the data. Most companies should have seen 09 revenues would decline? By the fall of 2008 we had entered the recession, credit was tight to non existent, the housing market was in shambles, unemployment was climbing and consumer confidence was at some of the lowest points it had ever been. There was NO macro-economic data that could have supported an 09 growth number unless your business benefited from a shrinking economy. Yet very few companies or leaders were able to defy the pressure to announce growth. So growth it was, despite the data.

Data gives you the answers, you just have to listen. What is your quota going to be next year? Is it realistic? How do you know?

August 3, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance, Economy, Leadership | Comments |

6 Ways To Get More Out of Your Sales Team

You are no better than your team. A basketball coach can’t play the game he can only get his/her team to play it better. Like a basketball coach sales leaders need to get their team to play better. A sales leader may THINK they can do it, however that kind of thinking is will doom them to failure.

A leaders job is to scale, not do the work. Leaders are supposed to get more out the group than the individual. It’s about the sum of the parts. One of the key ways for leaders to do this is to actually give a shit about the team.

6 Ways to show you give a shit:

1) Be visible – Don’t be seen only when you need something or asking for help. Be seen, and be visible. Don’t just show up and disappear.
2) Get to know your team - Focus on more than just revenue and pipeline. Get to know their strengths and weaknesses, their career aspirations, and who they are as people. Learn what motivates them and why. Don’t ACT as if you give a shit, actually do.
3) Know EXACTLY what your team does – Know what their day looks like and what processes they have to employ to do their job. Far too often leaders don’t understand what it is their team has to do to actually do their jobs. This a problem. Know what it’s like to walk in your teams shoes. (You might learn, you are a problem not a benefit)
4) Ask questions – Don’t tell your team what to do. Ask them what they think should be done. Help them process and come up with the answer on their own. If your telling your team what to do and how to do it, your doing their job. Don’t do their job.
5) Share - Be open with communication, keep the team abreast of everything that is going on; share ideas, information, thoughts, concerns and experiences. Share stories of success and failure. Sharing keeps the team motivated and engaged.
6) Be accessible – Be approachable, and available at all times. Make sure your team knows where you are, that you are available to them and that it is safe to engage you. If they don’t feel safe with you, it’s over.

Great sales people don’t always make great sales leaders. The ones that do understand the above. Focus on the team. Leaders win or lose because of the team not because of them.

July 20, 2009 | Filed under: Leadership, Sales Leadership | Comments |

The OverSeer

The overseer watches. His goal; make sure you do what your supposed to do. Rigid and demanding they pay little mind to anything other than the task. Overseer’s rarely add value to the effort. Their job is to make sure it gets done. They, as the name suggests, oversee. Overseers don’t participate in solving problems. As they see it’s not their job to fix or solve problems. It’s their job to make sure you get it done. Overseers bark orders, reprimand when results aren’t met and fire those who just can’t get with the program. Overseers report numbers and react to numbers. They don’t understand what’s driving them, nor do they care. The number is the number and either they are being met or they are not. Despite their own sense of self-importance, overseers bring very little value.

Sales has more overseers than any other profession. It’s easy to be an overseer in sales. To an overseer you’re making your number or not. Those that make their numbers stay, those that don’t . . . well don’t.

You have a sales guy who finishes at 85% of quota, in a market that has declined by 30%. You have another sales guy who finishes at 130% of quota in a market that is growing at 200%. Who has done a more impressive job?

The overseer sees the guy at 130% of quota as his man, because he made his number. But is that accurate? Who do you see as the more valuable sales guy.

Getting productivity and meeting goals takes more than an overseer. It takes leadership and engagement. It takes involvement. Overseers don’t get involved. In their world there is a clear line between him and the doers.

I’ve been hearing a lot lately that the pressure of today’s sales environments is creating a lot of overseers. I find that to be unfortunate. Tough sales environments, more than ever, need leadership not overseers.

To break a sales decline takes engagement and involvement. It’s more important than ever to understand what is impacting sales, why customers are struggling, what the market drivers are, how your products are positioned, what your customers are looking for, how your team is positioning your company and more. Tough times make overseers, when the should be creating leaders.

June 26, 2009 | Filed under: Sales Leadership | Comments |

Screw Em!

I was talking to a very talented sales woman the other day. She is very good at what she does. I’ve known her for years and have always been impressed with her. She was sharing with me her frustration with her current company. She was telling me how she is afraid she’s could lose her job because she is so far off her number this year. There are a lot of reasons she’s not going to hit her number, but none have to do with her. She has consistently been an over achiever. She kills it every year. She has a phenomenal relationship with her customers, she knows her industry and the she’s unbelievably organized. She’s just damn good.

This what I told her; “screw em!”

If you are busting your ass doing all the right things to make you’re number and your company is not happy – screw em!

If you’re leveraging creativity and making things happen out of nothing and you still won’t hit your number and your boss is not happy – screw em!

If the customers are happy with you, and are spending the lions share of their smaller budget with you and it’s still not enough -screw em!

If you believe in the bottom of your heart that you have given everything you can, that you have exhausted all of your energy and skill and are squeezing every opportunity out of your territory and you’re not going to hit your number, then don’t worry about it. There is nothing else you can do.

As managers we have tendency to measure everything against a number. I used to do this. If you don’t hit your number your gone. The problem is the number doesn’t tell the whole story. As much as we expect our sales people to understand their customers, we need to understand our sales people. We also need to understand the selling environment.

I asked Karen if she thought anyone else could do any better, (I didn’t believe anyone could, Karen is just that good). She said no, there just isn’t that much business to be had.

Understanding this, my final advice was simply this. Don’t worry about it. And if they’re not happy screw em. If they think by letting you go, their position will improve let them be that short sighted.

Letting people go for not making quota is not the way to look at it. The question companies should be asking when someone is missing quota is; can I get someone better? If the answer is yes, then let them go. If the answer is no, be happy with the revenue your getting and prepare to improve next year.

Who is more valuable? The sales person who is at 80% of quota in a market that is shrinking by 35% or the sales person who is 115% of quota in a market that is growing at 150%?

I will keep the person who is at 80% of quota. This is what I told Karen. If your company is incapable of recognizing this and believe they can get someone better by letting you go. Then – screw em! And, don’t worry about it, there nothing you can do.

Don’t lose great talent because you can’t interpret the numbers. If you do, you’ll be screwed!

June 15, 2009 | Filed under: Hiring/Firing, Sales Leadership | Comments |

Get Out of The Way

It’s been the most hectic, reactive, fear based selling environment I’ve ever been a part of. With customer inventories up, revenues down, capital expenditures being cut, and organizations constantly restructuring getting a handle on revenue is difficult. It’s hard for companies to know what their customers are going to buy. Consistency is the biggest victim in this crazy market. When consistency goes, management does something funny. They get in the way.

When management can’t get a clear picture on what is going to happen, when forecasts are missed, when deals unexpectedly fall out of the pipeline, when they are behind on their numbers, management becomes control freaks. We over react and begin demanding revenue and booking reports. We demand weekly, pipeline updates. We ask for pipeline and account reviews. We schedule emergency expense updates. When things get inconsistent we look to regain control and blow apart the process already in place. Ironically, this just makes things more inconsistent. Especially for the people in the trenches, because they now spend more time reporting than doing their jobs. When this happens, management is just getting in the way.

Times like this are hard. I get it. Knowing what revenues is going to be are critical. Understanding the expenses to revenue ratio is critical. But if you want to get back to consistency. If you want to accelerate sales. Don’t get in the way, stay out of the way. Give your sales team as much time to sell as possible.

Note to management; get out of the way. Sales becomes increasingly difficult in lean times. More customer facing time is required. Deals take longer. Creativity is required. More effort is needed. Customers demand more, take more time to decide, have more cumbersome decision processes and are less inclined to take risk. Selling in this environment requires far more effort than normal. Taking your sales team out of their routine, giving them more internal reporting work, and focusing them on anything but selling is making the problem worse. As managers we need to report what is going to happen. We have to have as clear a view as possible into where the business is going. Grabbing control, and spinning the team into a tizzy isn’t the way to do it.

If things get inconsistent, if new, or more information is needed then change the existing processes. Don’t add to them. Even though customers and forecasting is inconsistent it doesn’t mean you have to be. Keep the sales team in front of the customer. Give them as much extra time as you can. Implement the processes you need. Get rid of the ones that no longer give you what you need and then . . . get out of the way. Your team has selling to do.

June 1, 2009 | Filed under: Business Performance, Sales Leadership, Sales Process, The Chase | Comments |

A Sales Guy

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