Although traditional organisations may recognise the importance of the Sales Function, and seek to increase sales by paying it due attention, many organisations focus on the wrong elements of the Sales Process when managing staff. The most obvious areas for an organisation to focus on are Sales Activity and Sales Results. An excessive focus on Sales Results is akin to management by fear.

“If you don't hit your Sales targets there will be consequences!”

An unbalanced focus on Sales Activity is akin to management by pressure.

“Just get out there and sell, make appointments, get on the phone and 'cold call'”

Whether they intend to or not, Sales Managers who focus too strongly on Activity and Results create environments where there is a lack of trust and uncertainty about the future.

The tables outlines the consequences of inappropriate focus and management.

While in Brisbane this week, I met with an old friend that leads up a division of a major bank.

“How’s business?” I asked.
“Tough,” he replied. “We're being asked to sell, sell, sell Mike,” he quipped. 
So I asked how that was going.
“Not well,” he replied. “Nobody knows how to do it and we’ve had no training!”

He has since approached corporate HQ in Sydney and been told ‘No budget’ for training in sales.

To use an AFL football analogy, it’s like asking the Brisbane Lions to run out, Round 1 in the 2012 season with absolutely no preparation, coaching or development. Chances of winning – Zero!

Why is it these large corporate goliaths from the relative safety of corporate HQ and their mechanical spreadsheets, still refuse to acknowledge that ‘skills’, like selling, are not innate in humans? Especially bankers!

Boiler

There is building evidence world wide that traditional sales and customer service training is either failing completely or rendering sales teams less effective than before the training was conducted.

From extensive observation and experience, it is our belief that traditional “off the shelf” training delivered in the classroom, while valuable, has little long-term effect on behaviour change or sustainable productivity improvement. While there are many reasons why it may fail, we believe there are four main arguments as to why.

1. Low level of ownership in the organisation to a common goal and vision or philosophical approach to strategic selling.
2. Poorly prepared content not directly related to the sales or customer environment
3. Poor design and delivery models
4. Low levels of ownership in the ongoing refining loop so real learning is hardly ever retained.

A group of high performing people chasing a confused or miss-communicated vision is fraught with danger. Training executed with no real attachment to the critical success factors of the business will not drive profit and growth.

There is a common belief in Australia that “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to sales training content. There is ample evidence however, that this is not the case. Every organization has complex variations in their sales methodology and processes which relate directly to success or otherwise.

There is no doubt that the design and delivery of sales and customer service training has significant effects on sustainable results being achieved. Most lecture style training does not allow for the retention of complex models nor does it allow for practice in real situations with real customers. It is proven that there is a learning retention of around 70% when training is delivered in an experiential style combined with in-field coaching. Where as there is a less than 15% retention with one, two or three day lecture style training. 

Unfortunately many training programs are not developed with individual organizations in mind and offer little resemblance to the sales persons customer environment, resulting in poor sales behaviour and therefore reduced performance.

For real behavioural change, trainees must frame, learn and experience in training rooms, try new models in the field and then have a solid mechanism to refine the experience after the event. 

I found this in Selling Power and thought, "Yes that really makes sense."

An extract from the wonderful work of Dr Norman Vincent Peale - author of The Power of Positive Thinking.

Problems Are Opportunities in Disguise

Dr. Peale suggested that salespeople can be more successful in dealing with problems: "A problem is a concentrated opportunity. The only people that I ever have known to have no problems are in the cemetery. The more problems you have, the more alive you are. Every problem contains the seeds of its own solution. I often say, when the Lord wants to give you the greatest value in this world, He doesn't wrap it into a sophisticated package and hand it to you on a silver platter. He is too subtle, too adroit, for that. He takes this big value and buries it at the heart of a big, tough problem. How He must watch you with delight when you've got what it takes to break that problem apart and find at its heart what the Bible calls 'the pearl of great price.' Everybody I've ever known who succeeded in a big way in life has done so by breaking problems apart and finding the value that was there."

So what sales problem did you solve today?

Do your sales techniques and questioning style have a problem solving inclination?

Think about the great sales calls you have had. Was there a problem solving inclination? Success does leave clues.

Be positive and solve one problem for one customer tomorrow. They may just love it, and you.

Boiler