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MANAGEMENT


Protect Your Assets Shore up your sales by strengthening the whole team’s basic skills and expertise HENRY CANADAY


According to some research concerning sales-team readiness, many sales departments are unprepared to weather changes in an economic climate. Re- search identified several key weaknesses in sales that can be especially damaging to the sales effort.


IDENTIFY WEAK SPOTS First, only about half of all sales- people have a solid understanding of their company’s strategy. “We asked both managers and custom- ers about their salespeople, and we concluded that fewer than half of reps had a clear understanding of how to translate their company’s strategy into their day-to-day work,” explains an executive vice president familiar with the research.


18 | MAY 2017 SELLING POWER © 2017 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.


For example, firms often spend mil- lions in advertising to go after a par- ticular market segment with a specific value proposition. “If the salesperson does not understand how to follow through on that,” the EVP continues, “it is a huge waste of money.” The research suggests this weak- ness in strategic thinking occurs across many industries and compa- nies. Moreover, the weakness is just as likely to be found among sales


veterans as new hires. “New hires have just been through company indoctrination,” the EVP says. “The ones who have been out in the field a while, the company thinks they know what they’re doing.”


Strategic misalignment is especially damaging in times of uncertainty, when drastic changes must be made and executed effectively. Managers must focus on clear goals and objec- tives for their reps, explain how they connect to sales strategy, and clarify how reps are to spend their time and energy. “The trouble is ambigu- ity from critical execs, leaders, and frontline managers,” he says. “It is communication and coaching.” For example, rather than just send memos on market segments, man- agers should sit down with reps and challenge them on prospects in the


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