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Where do we find the World's Greatest Salespeople?
By Michael S. Finn, RRP
No this is not an excerpt from an Og Mandino book. I will give you a hint. They are closer
than you think?
First let's identify what we are looking for: the world's greatest salesperson. This person must first and foremost
be able to put numbers on the board. Others may talk of values, intelligence and representing the company foremost,
but if they do not post numbers they will not make it as a salesperson. This person needs the ability to run an
outrageous streak of sales. If you have a person that closes more business than anyone else for a month or more,
you have something to work with.
Next let's go to how they represent the company. This is huge for the company and will also be huge for the salesperson.
Sales executives that represent the company and the product well, invariably have lower cancellation rates and
higher referrals. This stems from customer satisfaction. The nice part is that it also increases net closing percentages.
If you missed it see #1 again.
What about intelligence? It's not about having a PHD. It's about being smart enough. Smart enough to take a guest
out of the room if they may disrupt other presentations. Or smart enough to follow up with their owners and work
referrals. It's about being smart enough to set goals for themselves and have a plan to achieve those goals.
How about values? Values will be the tough one. Many times we can be blinded by success. If a salesperson does
well we may overlook it. Do not fall into this trap. Values will come back to haunt you. It may take some time,
but it will. Without values you will not have a teamplayer. Some may ask why do I need a teamplayer, this is an
individual sport. It is not. Sit in a sales lounge some time when a lone sales executive is telling everyone how
bad a market source is, or worse yet, how the grass is greener at the resort down the street. If you have teamplayers
with the proper value systems they will speak up and tell that person to "sell crazy somewhere else"
(sorry I stole that from a Jack Nicholson movie).
Now that we have defined him or her, where do find them? Just look to your own sales force. I know many of you
saw that coming, but it's true. Here is the secret. Find the salespeople that you know have the ability to close
business and work with them on the other attributes. Go to your wall and look at all the salespeople of the month
or contest winners and such. This is your core. If you have a sales executive that is good enough to close business
for a sustained period of time, do not give up on them. Something went awry. Work with them, analyze their performance
and bring them back into the fold. Now that you have their attention, work on the other attributes.
Representing the company and the product properly is a constant vigil. You do not have to be KGB to keep them in
line. Just let them know your company goals and expectations and then let them know when they do it right and be
sure to let them know when they do wrong. I once read a book called "The Greatest Management Principle".
I can sum the book up in one sentence "Reward the response you want and punish the response you do not".
I just saved you twelve bucks and a few hours of reading. If I had just listened to my parents more closely, I
too would have saved the money and time. It's simple and it works. The key is communication of expectations.
Intelligence is not just knowledge, although it helps. It is not just experience. Experience will only help if
they know what to learn from it. And it is not just common sense either, but that helps too. It is a combination
of all this. As a company we have to provide a fertile ground for all this to grow. A salesperson with an open
mind and the intelligence to use it will be empowered, accent on the power.
Again values will be the tough one. You can explain company policy and you can feed knowledge, but values have
to be instilled by the individual. I will say though, that if you reward good company values the ones on the fence
will come around. Make it easy for your team to do the right thing. This also means that you must have faith in
them and trust them. This will backfire at some point. That's where your personal values will have to take
precedent.
So if you are looking for the perfect sales executive, start with your team and empower them to grow for you, your
company and themselves. It will save your company thousands of dollars and gain millions in a team synergy.
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Michael S. Finn, RRP,
writes an insightful bi-weekly column regarding issues of ethical and profitable sales & marketing. Read his bio here
Email: Michaelsfinn@aol.com
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