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| Concerned about your sales force’s ability to meet goals and deliver predictable revenue and margins? Register for Terry Slattery’s complimentary executive briefing on February 23, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Edina Country Club. As a CEO or business owner, learn how you can determine the kind of sales force you need, and hire and develop the right people who can and will get the job done. Register by emailing Rose at rlarsen@slatterysales.com or call her a 952-832-5436, ext. 782. |
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What Kind of Sales Force
Do You Need?
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 Today’s selling environment is super tough. Downsized organizations provide less face-time with prospects for sellers. The commoditization of sellers and products is relentless. And buyers who believe they are choosing from equals take the low-priced option. How you compete with your competitive differentiation determines the requirements for your sales force.
Why do you even need a sales force?
The Internet and social media can handle prospect education and build relationships more cost effectively than a sales force. It really boils down to: The primary reason to have a sales force is to alter the prospect’s decision process so it places more value on your competitive differentiation than on someone else’s lower price.
Compete on Price or Value?
In order to determine the type of salespeople you need, first decide how you want to compete. Do you want to compete on price and watch margins disappear? If so, don’t bother with a sales force. Customer Service Reps and a great Web-based process will suffice.
If want to compete on value, be clear about what you offer that is either unique to you or demonstrably better than your competition, and warrants a price premium. This is your Differentiating Value or DV, and when DV exceeds a competitor’s lower price, you get paid for it. Be relentless about your salespeople’s ability to discuss and defend your DV.
In addition, a value-driven sales force must know how to:
- Get to the real decision makers.
- Uncover the real decision process.
- Drive your DV into that decision process.
- Perform the requisite behaviors consistently to ensure sales goals are met.
Rule #2 and fortifying salespeople for battle
Given that selling resources are precious, you can’t afford to salespeople wasting time on the “intellectually curious.” They should focus only on the “economically serious.” You need to drive Rule #2 into their head: Every time the prospect asks you to do anything that involves work by you or the expenditure of your resources (quotes, studies, trips, comparisons, bring in experts, “take a look at…,” sample, design, etc.), make sure you know before you agree to do it exactly (not “maybe,” “possibly” or “if”) what happens next after you do it, and if it makes sense for your business. Do this and watch your sales go up and dead deals decline.
In addition to following Rule #2, your salespeople need to completely understand the prospect’s decision process, as well as the many other game rules. In 90% of lost deals, salespeople aren’t prepared to counter properly. And lastly, they should know how to talk with prospects about the consequences of not having what you do well.
How do you get the sales force you need?
Half of ALL current sales forces cannot do these things. Of those who are can learn and will do them, some may need more time than your business can afford to give them. No need to be upset. Understand that hiring salespeople is different from hiring other employees. You simply train the trainable and replace the un-trainable.
The good news is you can tell in about two weeks if your sales force CAN and WILL adjust to your new requirements. And you can learn how long it will take, what help they need and what ROI to expect. There has never been a better time, greater need and such effective ways to upgrade your sales force.
When you follow the process, I assure you that your close rate will be around 90%.
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Register for Terry Slattery’s complimentary executive briefing on February 23, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at Edina Country Club. He will help CEOs and business owners learn how they can determine the kind of sales force they need, and hire and develop the right people who can and will meet goals and deliver predictable revenue and margin results. Register by emailing Rose at rlarsen@slatterysales.com or call her at 952-832-5436, ext. 782. |
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