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Ground Zero’s Message for Sales Teams

Today, my bride and I stood at Ground Zero() in New York City.

When the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell, New York’s finest knew who they were and what they were supposed to do.  They died trying to save people in the towers.  They worked for weeks - 24/7 - pulling bodies out of the rubble.  They sacrificed for the benefit of others with no thought of time or personal protection.  They did what they could with what they had.  They were heroes.

What does this possibly have to do with a sales team?  How does this story apply to someone who sells a service or a product?  What’s the message for salespeople, managers, and executives?

Do what you can for the benefit of others.  Work to protect the revenues and expenses of your company.  Protect the livelihoods of fellow employees - those who build and ship the products or those who provide your company’s services.  Take care of those who buy your product.  Follow up.  Preserve and defend customer rights and expectations.

Do not hire anyone who doesn’t care about personal responsibility or the interests of others.  Hire an honest person - someone with a hard work ethic.  And, build a sales team around people who want to solve problems and fill customer needs.  Keep your distance from people who want to tear things down.

When the economy falters or hardship arrives at your company’s door, work harder and smarter.  Be willing to sacrifice time and effort beyond normal requirements.  Do what it takes to get the job done.  Do what it takes to serve well.  Do what it takes to do what you said you would do.  Do what it takes.  Do what it takes. 

Give your best.  Be courageous.  Walk through one more door.  Make one more call.  Be uncommon heroes. 

Now, go and make things better.  Lance.

Screen for Great Salespeople - Like the NFL

The NFL screens high-profile college athletes for speed, quickness, agility, mental aptitude, and other important traits relative to their positions.  The NFL Combine with its statistical history for vertical jumps, 40 yard dash, bench press, aptitude tests, and interviews greatly increases the chances for excellent player selection.  And, these are just a few of their screening tools.  With a multi-million dollar investment on the line, owners make sure that due diligence occurs in the screening for new NFL players.

In great sales teams, the same situation exists.  Each new recruit represents thousands and perhaps millions of dollars in corporate revenue.  And, one recruit impacts morale, production, and the retention of other salespeople and fellow employees. 

The sobering thought ... coaches know that ultimately the best players get the job done on the playing field ... and, they help them keep their jobs.

For these fiscal reasons, great sales managers take their candidates through some initial examination steps (Stage One: Screening).  They screen by resume, by phone, by email, and perhaps face-to-face for 3-6 personality and character traits.  The typical traits they screen for include: goal-orientation, social drive (for prospecting), social confidence (for prospecting, asking hard questions, presenting), and important character attributes: honesty, hard work ethic, and personal responsibility.  This keeps them from spending additional recruiting dollars and interviewing time on candidates who cannot pass initial screening.

Problem ... Resume reviews and reference checking alone are worth less than 4% in making good hiring decision. 

After screening candidates, some candidates make it to Stage Two: Profiling.  In this stage, validated profiles (see craftprofiles) are used to screen for the critical personality traits which contribute to doing important sales tasks.  Also, just as in the NFL, mental aptitude is measured as well.  How fast will they learn product information, paperwork requirements, marketing information, etc. for ramp up to minimum production.  Scientifically validated profiles, especially ones with built in lie detectors, help isolate the traits.  They are worth, in predictive measurement, between 20-50% in making a good hiring decision.

THREE PROBLEMS WITH PROFILES ...

Problem #1:  Many profiles are not validated. 

Problem #2:  Many profiles are hard to understand and very general in their reported measurements.  While true, they are hard to use.  Accurate information is presented in a difficult and hard to apply format.

Problem #3:  Sales managers have very little practical experience with profiles, or have had a negative experience with them.  They are not comfortable with how to use them.

The recruiting funnel, at its finish, narrows into the final stage - Stage 3: Interviewing.  This stage may provide at least 16% of the information necessary to make a good hiring decision - if structured interviews are used. It is also the stage in which we get the participation of other team members in separate discussions and interviews.

INTERVIEW PROBLEM ...

Problem: Most sales managers do interviews that are not structured to screen for the 3-6 critical traits. They also do not ask the same questions to every candidate and then score out their responses.  An unstructured interview is worth less than 4% to a good hiring decision - some experts say less than 2%.

...............
An outstanding RECRUITING SYSTEM finds great salespeople ...

Use multiple sources for an adequate flow of candidates.  Recruit with a three stage funnel in the order outlined above: Screening, Profiling, Interviewing, and do so with critical traits in sharp focus. 

As you become more proficient with the process, its tools, and skills, your selection will improve.  Just like the NFL, you will use proven selection methods to separate the best from the rest - to find salespeople suited for the challenges they will face.

To impact ramp up time, first year production, and retention, recruit the best.  Learn the skills.  Use the tools.  Follow the process. 

What’s next?  After hiring, the ramp up period and coaching process become important.  And, that’s a message for another time.  For now, Recruit the Best ... and later we’ll discuss Coaching the Best.  Do Great.  Lance.

A Simple Sales Plan Model

Time is always flowing.  It’s always getting away from us. 

The other day my bride and I saw a rerun of a George Carlson standup.  In his comedic routine, he did a few moments around this theme ... TIME.  And, one thing he did was particularly funny.  It was about the concept of NOW.  He pointed out to the audience as only Mr. Carlson could do that, “NOW is never HERE ...  If you ever mention it ... it’s GONE ... NOW ... is GONE ... there it goes again.” NOW ... There it goes again!!

A sales team is of course made up of 2 or more salespeople.  And, time is always moving on.  So, what we do with TIME as a team and individuals is critical. 

It’s “now” time to put together our sales plan for 2009.  We need to begin the 2009 planned actions in the last quarter of this year.  Then, we will build as much momentum as possible into the new year.  So, here’s a good and simple model for a typical sales plan.

Sales Planning Flow in Good and Bad Times
Set Goal
1st - What’s your income goal and sales goal.  Sometimes this requires a lot of discussion.  But, the goal is first.
2nd - What’s your mean (average) sales size?  How many sales will you need to do next year, quarter, etc.
(Note: For very large sales and long sales cycles > than 90 days ... down to each quarter is enough.  Other sales teams may want to take it down to the month and perhaps week or day.)
3rd - What will be your win % on the quotes you do?  How many quotes will you need to do next year, quarter, etc.
4th - What and how much do you plan to sell?
How and to whom will you communicate what the goals are?

Plan How
1st - What are your target accounts for your 2009 sales goals - new and old customers?  Prioritize these.
2nd - What approach method will you use to contact them for appointments?
3rd - How will you strengthen your networking and lead generation for 2009?  What will you do?  When?
4th - When will you call for appointments each week or follow up on leads - a “sacrosanct time!”
5th - What strategies will you use to approach major accounts and get interest or first appointments?
6th - What weaknesses do you have? What training will you need in 2009?
7th - What’s unclear or missing in your plan?  What will you do to clear it up or make it no longer missing?
8th - What support will you need - marketing, tools, clerical, financial, etc.  How and when will you get it?
How, when, and to whom will you communicate the entire plan?  How, when, and to whom will communicate the relevant parts?

Monitor Progress
1st - How will you measure progress?  What measurements will you make?
2nd - When will you report progress, review the plan, and make adjustments?
How, when, and to whom will you communicate the new plan adjustments during the year?

Celebration
Celebration occurs throughout the effort - during planning and execution.  Find things to celebrate ... new appointments, making short lists, getting through to decision makers, new opportunities, etc.  Always find things to celebrate.  Especially, celebrate progress.

Get your plans done ASAP.  And, get moving at 2009 pace in 2008.  Do great things - better things.  Lance.

A Best Practice Recruiting System for Salespeople

“Yes, we’ll meet our numbers, It’s my job.“

That’s what Jack Plating, a President with Verizon, once told me in response to my end-of-the-year question,

“Are you going to meet your numbers?”

Sales executives want to meet their numbers.  However ... very few companies train their managers to recruit well USING present day selection methods. For example, many do not know that validated personality profiles (craftprofiles.com), as a part of a recruiting system, will help them:

- Decrease new salesperson ramp up time
- Increase first year production
- Increase retention

A best practice recruiting system contains a process that uses state-of-the-art selection tools at three (3) stages of a recruiting funnel - Above the funnel, great managers learn to use several sourcing methods to bring candidates into Stage One - Screening.

1. Trait Screening
2. Validated Profiling
3. Structured Interviewing

There are three problems above the funnel.

Problem #1 ...
Most sales managers cannot tell someone the top 3-6 personality and character traits important for their sales position - natural and learned traits necessary for sales success.  So, how can they screen for them?

Problem #2 ...
Sales managers rush too few candidates into unstructured interviews and make quick hiring decisions under pressure.

Problem #3 ... 
Sales managers do not employ several sourcing methods to bring enough candidates into the recruitment process. So, they panic and act with haste as they look at a candidate through rose-colored glasses - making quick decisions because of cash flow needs.

Here a solution to problem #1…
Ask yourself three questions, “What changes has your company and industry experienced in the last 1-3 years.  Then, “What challenges, in order of priority, face the sales organization as a result of those changes.  Now, your ready for the final question. ”What will be the traits of high performers for your company and industry - to handle the changes and meet the challenges.“ This final question should bring out a lot of excellent traits required for your sales job.  Prioritize these into the top 5 traits for success.

Solutions do exist for problems #2 and #3.  A best practice recruiting system contains specific tools and skills, that when used in the process outlined above, impact the quality of new recruits - their 1st year production and retention.  Lance.