First, a caveat: This is not a political column, this is a business column. The meaning of Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts is a great metaphor for corporations. Given a “Massachusetts Shock Message” to a corporation (like snowballing employee turnover or customer defections), how many corporate executive teams and organizational leaders go into spin cycle- or worse yet- denial mode? Let’s face it: leadership isn’t just about giving a directional message (“I haven’t explained the message well. They don’t get it”.) That’s top-down management-by-directive, and the problem is the executive is in denial about which way the real message is being sent: it’s not coming from headquarters; it’s coming from the pickup truck- the street. Read more

Where do you find good salespeople? First, you have to define “a good salesperson”. With no college curriculum or extensive certification process for someone to be called a salesperson, a “good” salesperson is a highly subjective definition. Here’s the acid test for executives as to whether or not they know a person is a “good” salesperson or not: Can the executive make an accurate evaluation without looking at the sales numbers or track record- and will the sales numbers verify the executive’s decision to hire? Would an executive of a prominent electrical wholesaler hire a food server at a restaurant with the intent of making him an outside salesperson? John Walter of Walter’s Wholesale Electric did that very thing about twelve years ago. Read more

The following is a memo sent in January, 1965, from J.A. Sexauer to his 75 field salespeople. Interesting how some of his thoughts and philosophies are somewhat timeless: Read more

When it comes to understanding the role of sales and how to maximize sales performance, not too many business executives “get it”. Hint: Managing sales is not about dictating control. If your salespeople are totally controllable by you, then what are they like when negotiating on your behalf? Worse yet, if you have total control over them, then do they have to wait for you to tell them to do something before they do it? Two major characteristics of great salespeople are the strength to negotiate value in the face of a buyer’s price pressure and the self-discipline to get things done without adult supervision. Neither of these characteristics are those of someone who is “controllable”. In fact, another inherent characteristic of great salespeople is they are fiercely independent.  Read more

The predictability of future business through the eyes of the field sales force is critical to effective decision-making on the part of any executive. What is the trend? What is changing? What’s over the horizon? Knowing this can help make the necessary strategic decisions that keep a company in step with the changing marketplace and ahead of the competition. The problem is most organizations utilize an outdated business school approach to getting this information: sales forecasts. Read more

Where Are the Salespeople?

The following quote from the Harvard Business Review may have a familiar ring to it:

“More than 35 years ago, the insurance industry embarked on an intensive program to solve the problem of costly, wasteful turnover among it’s agents. ….

After expenditure of millions of dollars and 35 years of research, the turnover in the insurance industry remains (as it was)….What accounts for this expensive inefficiency? Basically this: Companies have simply not known what makes one person sell and another not.”

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Why do we have salespeople that can’t hack it? How do people who don't belong in sales wind up running a multi-million dollar territory for a company? We have discovered the most prevalent hiring mistake was the poor performers were hired for their industry knowledge. Conversely, we have found that the majority of the top tier salespeople in most organizations have experience in at least one other industry or another company department. They are real salespeople- whether selling a product or a new way to be more productive in their department. What they sell is just a detail. Sales ability trumps industry knowledge more often than not in sales performance. Much more often than not. Read more

Checking the articles that are downloaded monthly from this website, the consistent winner is the article titled “Sales Compensation Systems That Work”. It’s safe to say that sales compensation is a hot topic. The problem is most people downloading this article will be disappointed because most executives and business owners are constantly seeking that “silver bullet” compensation package that drives successful results. There is no silver bullet in “Sales Compensation Systems That Work”. Rather, there is a frank discussion on creating a compensation system that works for the sales personalities you hire, the market base you are chasing, and the systems in place that measure and compensate sales performance. Read more

Hiring Right, A Three-Part Series
Part II: Hiring Right Read more