basics 30 Great Strategies for Sales Success
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It’s been said that a sales team is like a freight train – with the leader as the engine, pulling the train forward. If that’s true, then Selling Power has the inside track on what makes the train run on schedule and deliver the goods. Here are 30 of the best strategies for getting your sales train into the station on time, with all its sales goals on board. Use this as your own five-part roadmap to sales success.
PART RECRUITING, TESTING, AND HIRING 1
Strategy #1. Ask candidates what they’d really rather do. Top sales professionals have a life goal of being the best in what they do. By contrast, average sales professionals often wish they had the nerve to get out of sales and do something completely different. During the job interview, ask the candidate to describe his or her ideal occupation. If they say they’d rather be in baseball, or be a musician, or something else not sales focused, suggest they seek out a job that fits their dreams rather than pursuing a line of work that doesn’t really interest them.
Strategy #2. Look for candidates who can truly add
value. When mediocre sales professionals make sales calls, they try to emulate the behavior of their more talented peers. All too often, though, these average performers are so busy trying to sell that they miss the nuances of the customer and business relationship. Top sales professionals know that the most important element of a successful sales call is the value the sales professional can bring to the customer – rather than the product or service that might eventually be sold. Remember: the ultimate market differentiation consists of the high quality of the people who represent your company to your customers. Strategy #3. Hire candidates with the right attitude.
Failure in sales can come from either poor skills or poor attitude. Skills can be taught, but you can’t change a person’s basic attitude. It’s better to hire inexperienced candidates with the right attitude than experienced candidates with the wrong attitude. In general, the right attitude consists of three key qualities. First, sales pro- fessionals need empathy to understand customer needs.
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Second, sales professionals need the ability to persuade to bring customers to the point of buying. Third, sales professionals must have the ability to use rejection as a spur to move forward. Strategy #4. Don’t encourage the hopeless. Over half the people in sales today would be doing themselves – and everyone else – a favor if they changed professions. The presence of these individuals in our midst is the primary reason the public perceives selling in a negative manner. When you find employees who lack the qualities to become solid performers in your organization, don’t waste your time and their time. Cut them loose. They’ll be better off in the long run... and so will your team. Strategy #5. Study your failures as well as your suc-
cesses. For the past 50 years, businesses have looked carefully at their failures, and then used performance-im- provement methodologies like TQM, ISO, and Six Sigma to correct quality problems. Unfortunately, sales organi- zations tend to avoid looking at their failures and would prefer to examine their successes – and then attempt to replicate them. However, until you understand how, why, and where your sales process is failing, it’s impossible to correct systemic sales problems.
PART THE SALES COMPENSATION CHALLENGE 2
Strategy #6. Match compensation to corporate strategy. Even if you have a sales compensation scheme that’s pop- ular with the sales team, you should never hesitate to alter it to better match corporate strategy. For example, if your company is shifting to a new source of growth, compen- sate more when those products are sold. If you’re asking your team to work more closely with channels, compen- sate your team when the channels make sales. If you are expecting people to play new roles in the sales process, ensure that’s reflected in the pay packet. And, while you’re at it, be certain your sales recognition programs align with the compensation plan. Nothing confuses a team more than a conflicting set of priorities. Strategy #7. Reward, rather than punish, your over- achievers. When your top sales professionals greatly
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