Three Traits of High Performance Sales People

Selling is both an art and a science.  There are thousands of books, training courses, methods and tools on the sales discipline.  So which methods and tools are best?

My experience is all work well in the right context.  So where should salespeople focus their effort to increase performance?  Make it simple, focus on the “high performance traits”.   

High performing, large ticket sales people have three traits in common.  They:

1.       Qualify prospects to focus limited resources

2.       Prepare themselves before interacting to customers

3.       Demonstrate persistence

Qualification

Don’t believe the hype.  In large ticket sales, everyone you meet is not a potential customer. Your grandmother won’t buy your earth mover.  It’s unlikely that your electrician can afford to buy your wire and cable manufacturing company.  Your local dry cleaner is more likely to buy Quickbooks than SAP.    

Salespeople have limited resources (time, budget, emotional capital) to drive revenue.  Even worse, they are given set timeframes in which this revenue must be obtained.  Every minute and dollar counts.  Taking the time qualify potential prospects eliminates significant waste and focuses your effort. 

Another effect it has is preserving your emotional capital.  “Collecting your “no’s” is a phrase I have heard many times over the years.  This phrase describes sales being a numbers game.  If you collect enough “no’s” you will find get your “yes”.  With the right volume of contacts you make your quota. 

This process can be personally taxing, even for the best salespeople.  Often because the best salespeople hate to lose, no matter what they tell you.  Sales is a personal business.  Your energy, or lack thereof, does impact sales.  People like to but from positive, vibrant salespeople.

Qualification slants the numbers to your side.  It decreases the number of “no’s” in the process.  It preserves your emotional capital.  This energy can be refocused where needed to drive sales to closure.        

Preparation

Ready, shoot, aim!  I worked for a Vice President once that wanted to cross sell a software product to an existing customer base.  Great qualification! 

She refused, however, to do any research on the customer before initiating sales calls.  Existing customers!  Invaluable experience existed in the company from people who knew these customers through years of interaction. She chose not to leverage it.

The company relationship was not enough.  Over time her sales waned because she tried force fitting solutions onto customers.  Pushing unqualified solutions she tarnished the company relationship in many accounts.  An equal opportunity offender, she upset customers and peers alike.  In the end she lost her job.       

Preparation is 90% of sales.  Know your product and company well.  Research your prospects in depth before any sales interactions.  Target your proposed solution to specific individuals, to meet targeted needs in their business.  Even if the proposed need doesn’t exist, it shows you took the time to understand their business and your acumen in deriving solutions.  You will get noticed.   

Persistence

Persistence isn’t “stalking” your customer.  Remember the Vice President I mentioned earlier.  She boasted a 98% close rate.  That’s because she considered anyone that said no a prospect yet to be closed! 

The truth is she closed maybe 5% of large ticket open opportunities. She was seen as pushy by customers and peers alike.  Even worse, she lost credibility with senior management as opportunities pushed across many quarters.  They could she her pipeline was not qualified and couldn’t count on her revenue in any forecast.

Persistence is thoroughly following up on qualified leads.  Be responsive to prospect’s requests.  Hit prospects at many levels and talk to many contacts.  Don’t give up on the first no.  If they say no enough, however, stop the madness.  Sometimes no means no and you must qualify them out of the pipeline.  Remember, you have limited resources.  Don’t waste them chasing ghosts!    

Unlucky 8 Sales Myths - Common and Deadly

The following unlucky eight sales myths have plagued me in my 20 year career.  Follow them at your own risk!

 Myth #1:  “A good salesperson can sell anything to anyone.”

This seems to be the first line any salesperson uses in a job interview.  My experience is this is not so.  A car salesman doesn’t fare well selling high dollar software deals.  A “harvesting” oriented salesperson often fails in new logo sales.  Technical salespeople don’t necessarily make good solution sales representatives when business value is the focus.

Business is becoming ever more specialized.  You must be able to prove how your product/service work in the customer’s environment.  High performance sales people know there are three foundational legs to the selling stool:  1) Sales Skills, 2) Industry Skills, 3) Product / Competency Skills.  Only this combination provides the trust and confidence your customer can stand on.    

Myth #2: "The customer is always right!"

“The customer always knows their symptoms” is more accurate.  Some do know have the knowledge of what they need.  Most do not because they are not experts in your field.  They are experts in their own business as they should be.

Ask a lot of questions before offering any product or solution.  Find the root cause of their problems.  This builds trust and confidence in the salesperson and their organization.  They will still be angry if you give them what they ask for and it doesn’t relieve their symptoms.  You are the expert, right?  If not, why are you trying to sell me this stuff?

Myth #3: "Salespeople are born, not trained"

I have to admit some people are gifted with personality traits that make selling easier.  I have seen more salespeople trained in the science than gifted at birth.  This is especially true in industries where business and technical knowledge eclipse “good old boy” tactics.  Customers are more sophisticated and procurement more mature these days.

"Fast talkers" are often mistakenly thought of as natural born salespeople when, in fact, fast talking repels most people. Talking doesn't sell. Asking questions and listening does.

Personable, intelligent people with strong desire have proven quite successful in sales.  Let them leverage their own personality guided by a structured process.  You might be surprised at the results.

Myth #4: “Formal sales processes take away creativity.”

A formal sales process just creates structure, repeatability and the ability to measure results.  It’s the science part of the job.  It neither creates nor eliminates creativity.  Successful sales organizations provide flexibility for Salespeople to add their own personality and creativity to the process.   They must make salespeople comfortable and act naturally to be successful.

Myth #5: “Concentrate on your product or solution.”

Making the customer’s problem the nail for you hammer is no way to sell.  Solutions help accelerate understanding and act as guides.  They are not the end-all be-all, customer value is.

Ask a lot of questions.  Listen.  Create the vision of how you can provide value in meeting their needs.  Sell the vision, not the solution.  It’s easier to understand and ties your solution to emotion.  Selling is personal, therefore, emotion sells.

Myth #6: "Every prospect is a potential customer!"

Sorry, Grandma Kettle is not going to buy your construction crane.  There are realities of economics, international culture, internal politics and sophistication of your buyer that can crush your sale.  That won’t stop the prospect from saying no to meetings. 

Maybe they want to learn more.  Maybe there is one person’s agenda pushing the concept.  Maybe your contact just doesn’t like to say no, it makes them feel bad.  You can waste a tremendous amount of time and money chasing ghosts.

Qualification, preparation and focus.  Every “qualified” prospect is a potential customer.

Myth #7: "Never walk away from the table!"

Don’t walk, run!  Closing a bad sale just creates ugly issues.  There are many kinds of bad sales.  Examples include:

·         Not profitable

·         Lopsided terms for the company or the customer

·         Promises in writing your company can’t keep

·         Unreasonable customer who will suck profitability out of the deal after the through support

If it doesn’t make sense for the company walk away.  Often this forces a customer to rethink their position.  If they really need the solution you are selling, they may change their demands.

Myth #8: "Never take no for an answer!"

Don’t take no for an answer right away.  Maybe not even the second or third time.  If the customer says “no” enough, they mean it.  Don’t chase ghosts that burn valuable time and money.  Preliminary qualification is just that, preliminary.  Quickly learn, adapt and react.   

Remember qualification, preparation and focus.  This is applied throughout the entire sales cycle.

Firm up the foundation to drive sales person performance to the next level.

There are so many techniques to drive sales growth.  Relationship based sales, consultative selling, transaction based sales, solution based selling and many more. I have seen many models in action during my career.  Most all seem to be focused on process and motivation, not a clear foundation for individual success.

I recently looked at some blog posts and found two common examples of what is taught:

Example 1
Step 1: Help your salespeople to understand and motivate themselves better
Step 2: Train on key sales attitudes, skills and techniques
Step 3: Teach personal responsibility
Step 4: Reinforce key behavior
Step 5: Celebrate success

Example 2
Step 1: Have the right people on the bus
Step 2: Define the sales activities that lead to results
Step 3: Manage the activities, not the results
Step 4: Recognize immediately, sales is a contact sport
Step 5: Learn what drives the sales team’s behavior

I think everyone would agree motivation and a common sales process are critical to the growth of any sales organization.  That being said high dollar, high volume sales are personal.  People buy from people they like and trust.  No process or level of motivation changes that.   

Most methods suggest skill training is critical.  Which training drives the best results? Who’s helping individual salespeople learn how to build customer confidence and trust? 

The key to success is focusing on foundational components that drive customer confidence.  Put the salesperson in a formal process for consistency of results.  Let the salesperson apply their unique personality and methods within the process to make it personal!

There are three foundational components that act as “legs to the tool.”  Without all three the stool won’t stand, and the customer will not have confidence to buy.

Leg 1:  Sales Skills

This is where everyone focuses their time.  How many times have you heard “a good salesperson can sell anything to anyone.”  My experience is this is not so.  A car salesman doesn’t fare well selling high dollar software deals.  A “harvesting” oriented salesperson often fails in new logo sales.  Each can be successful in more than one category, but the skill is not universal.

There is so much literature on this topic it seems silly to repeat everything here.  My point - this is not enough to drive high performance.

Leg 2: Industry Skills

Remember we are talking about large ticket, high volume sales.  You must have some knowledge of the industry you are selling to.  Why?  Without this you cannot clearly articulate the value of what you are selling in terms the customer understands. 

Confidence is built through your ability to show the customer you know their position, how they feel, what they need.   Showing them you know exactly how to solve problems in their world is crucial.  You are giving them the talk track they can take to procurement, the CFO or whoever they need to make the sale happen.  Otherwise you are just a pushy salesperson.

In addition, don’t you like to hang out with people that have common interests?  Sales are personal.  If they feel a common connection with you the odds of success go way up.

Leg 3: Product / Competency Skills

I’ve known salespeople over the years that say they are “relationship” people and don’t have to know the product well to make the sale.  They are just selling the salesman.  They leverage the skills of other salespeople to do their work.  Sorry, but it’s the truth.

The best salespeople I’ve known are always curious. They are always asking questions and studying up on wares they sell.  They don’t have to be dead experts, but do want to bridge the gap between the product/service and how it will be applied to drive customer value.

The more credible the salesperson, the fewer follow up meeting are required to educate the customer on the value of what is being sold.  Fewer meetings mean a shorter the sales cycle.  A shorter sales cycle means lower a cost of sales.  I love where this is going!

Focus on the individual.  Give the salespeople a foundation from which to grow their ability.  Don’t just give them a “training quota” and expect them to know what to do.  When in doubt, they will go to another “art of the close” seminar. 

What makes employees truly enabled?

It's all too common as a manager to say "rest assured, you are enabled to do the job".  But do we really know what we are committing to?  Do we go beyond the motivational hype to make the promise real?  Enablement takes initiative on the part of the company, manager and employee.

The Company
First, the company must have a clear, formal job description.  It must be easy to understand, clearly communicated and reviewed annually with the employee.

Secondly, the proper metrics must be in place to incent the employee.  These must be tied directly to the expectations communicated to drive the right behavior.  They should also be measured as least bi-annually and results communicated back to the employee.  Misalignment means the employee has been positioned for failure since they will act to maximize the performance measures in their own best interest.

The Manager
Managers must provide clear direction that is consistent with the job description.  This doesn't mean be a tyrannical micro-manager.  If they should lead, tell them so.  If they must be self directed, tell them so.  If they have only one task and shouldn't deviate, tell them so. 

Be prepared for your part of the deal.  Yes there is work in it for the manager.  Remove the impediments your employee needs to be successful.  Manage upwards for the budget, resources and commitment your employee needs to get the job done. 

If you task an employee with an activity (job, project, etc.) where you are not willing to spend this relationship capital, ask yourself if the activity is necessary.  If not eliminate the activity, re-deploy the employee or assign a different activity. 

Empowering employees is giving them the benefit of trust in advance of performance.  High performing employees understand, respect and earn this trust in arrears.  If your employee doesn't act accordingly then take back some empowerment until they earn it.

The Employee
As an employee you must understand, respect and earn empowerment.  Challenge your manager to work for you when it is needed.  Don't ask for their help unless it's truly required.  Relationship capital with your manager is based on your ability to perform, not theirs.  If they do everything then why did they hire you? 


Empowerment most often falls down when managers are not willing to do their part to move obstacles for their employee.  Politics, promotions, fear of "rocking the boat" and other personal issues get in the way of taking care of the business.

 If you task an employee with an activity (job, project, etc.) where you are not willing to spend this relationship capital, ask yourself if the activity is necessary.  If not eliminate the activity, re-deploy the employee or assign a different activity. 

If nothing else, don't tell the employee they are enabled when they really aren't.  You are positioning an employee to fail.  This will only end in resentment, turnover, doubt in your sincerity and/or doubt in your ability to manage.