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Earlier this year, sales management and executive teams launched
this year's sales plan and have been attempting to fill open sales job recs
to help maximize their potential and hit their annual forecasts.
Yet, many of these sales forecasts will be missed,
sales management will be quietly discussing what to do with unproductive salespeople
in the back room, and executive teams will be outwardly frustrated.
So how can sales management prevent this from happening?
First, before I give you this elusive magic formula, let's identify
the key asset of your firm in order to sell more.
It is not your product or service.
It is not your delivery system.
It is not your marketing.
It is your sales team!
Now, you can believe it and sell more, or debate it and sell
less.
Firms are
quick to pay out $18,000 headhunter fees to "find" the right sales candidate
but once the candidate is hired, it is the last time the management team "invests
in this asset."
For greater success in your sales reps, invest ongoingly
to help them be more successful.
The question any CFO would ask you is how much and how
often do you invest to maximize the return on our assets (salespeople)?
To calculate this answer let's look at the lifecycle of a sales rep
to see how to maximize the investment.
Lifecycle of a Successful Sales Rep
From the previous BDM News article, we have taken the
sales rep success cycle and broken it down further into three distinct quadrants
of time and company investment.
- Quadrant A: The timeframe of hiring and probation.
- Quadrant B: The timeframe for sales training, sales pipeline
development and company support.
- Quadrant C: The timeframe that reflects the success of a
sales rep's account closing.
Most accounting departments do not equate investment in sales training as
an investment in asset management. But the term "sales training" is a misnomer.
In fact, the key phrase is "sales learning."
Sales Learning ROI Graph
As you can see by the Sales Learning ROI Graph, the greatest
sales team ROI is when you invest in ongoing training and company support in
Quadrant A and B and then continue into Quadrant C. As you move further away
from the actual hire date, you will see that the success and level of ROI is
determined by the ongoing support provided to the sales rep. So, training intermittently
or at the end of a sales rep success cycle will return you the smallest level
of ROI.
Sales learning must be consistent or else you are wasting your
asset (the sales team).
3 Steps to Maximize a Sales
Rep's Success
- Hire slow. Don't rush to fill open sales job slots just
because you need a headcount.
- Train often and early. Your asset is your sales team. Invest
in them. Provide a strong consistent inside support system and focus most
of your training in Quadrant A and B timelines with continued reinforcement
in Quadrant C.
- Terminate fast. Once a sales rep is in the Quadrant C timeframe
and is unproductive, you cannot continue to carry them. As mentioned in last
week's email, the average non-productive salesperson costs you at least
$85,000 a month while employed.
Invest in your sales team early and often or
risk minimizing your asset's ROI and not hitting
this year's sales quota!
To sell more . . . start protecting your assets by investing!
Writers Resource Box
| Paul DiModica is the author of the best-selling
books: Value Forward Selling, Value Forward Marketing, and Sales Management Power Strategies.
He is founder of Value Forward Group and addresses
thousands of executives each year on the subjects
of sales, marketing and strategy, including
executives and staff of Wells Fargo, Lanier Corporate, Adobe, IBM, Tyco/American Dynamics, Navitaire and many others. His content-rich
workshops and strategy sessions on leadership, sales, management
and marketing bring about immediate changes
and long-term results. For more information, visit http://www.valueforward.com |
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