The first step for any company deciding to make a change in their sales approach is always an assessment of the situation. What processes and methods are currently being employed by the company? What has their sales performance been? What percentage of salespeople are meeting quota? What are the biggest obstacles to success? How dynamic or stable is the company’s environment? What are the practices and expectations of the buyers? These are only a few considerations.

Training must be based on what the salespeople need and should be tailored to address diagnosed performance gaps. Using a diagnostic approach, a formal sales team skills audit saves an organization money and time because there is nothing to be gained from teaching people something they are already doing well — or, conversely, that they don’t need to do in the first place.

A well-targeted program is far more likely to engage participants’ full interest because they’ll see its immediate relevance to their daily results.

Any training program will be more effective when the skills that participants learn are reinforced on a regular and continual basis. For maximum impact, every level of management must reinforce training. Such reinforcement can come in many forms, but the best way is for the sales manager to serve as a “model of excellence” who provides an ongoing demonstration of required skills so salespeople begin to live and breathe them.

Choosing the Right Training Company for Your Needs

Most sales-training companies have a unique philosophy and therefore a specialized approach. Perhaps they are strong in the area of selling business value to board-level members at the expense of competitive positioning. Perhaps attention on strategies for winning very complex sales situations dilutes their efforts toward working with students on the details and tactics that they need to execute in order to win — down to the actual words they need to be saying and to whom.

A training company that specializes in one or more areas of sales expertise will not necessarily perceive or look for your requirements in other areas. If the training/consulting provider is left to define your approach, there will more than likely be a gap in the methodology, and of course a resultant gap in the subsequent training.

One way to handle this is to employ two independent providers. One would assist in assessing your situation, defining your requirements, and perhaps in building your methodology. The second would provide the training and would be evaluated and selected based upon their ability to meet your specific (and complete) requirement set. That would ensure that the first provider would not be defining your requirements to meet their expertise.

The best alternative is to employ a firm that is completely independent of any training or sales consulting provider and can offer the proper guidance throughout these steps to achieve the best possible result. Important to any company that makes an investment in sales team development is measurement.

Benchmarking current levels of performance, setting reasonable goals and objectives based upon a careful assessment of the situation, and measuring progress against those goals is a necessary — but for the most part overlooked — component of most training initiatives.

When progress is at or above expectations, everyone is encouraged, motivated and continues to perform and excel. If expectations are not being met, the opportunity exists for immediate problem diagnosis and adjustment, assuring that the initiative will get back on track and provide the return on investment expected.

PS: Having mentioned sales team skills auditing, it would be negligent of me not to remind you of  ASP Profile from the JF Consultancy – I rarely self-publicize, so do please indulge me – details HERE

Source: Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

The JF Guest Author Spot

Paul Castain

There are certain topics that we all know to stay away from because history has shown us that people go from zero to nasty right quick. It’s the fun topics like religion or politics and now amongst the sales brethren its cold calling.

I thought it might be interesting to “go there” today and present what I feel are misunderstandings regarding the beloved cold call.

1)    How We Define “Cold Call”: There are lots of people out there who define any form of phone call to a prospect as a cold call. Its used in a generic context like  if you were to “Xerox” something or “Google” someone. There are others who feel that a cold call is calling any business “cold” as in working straight off a list, no pre call planning etc. And there are still more who believe that all calls are cold calls because whether you pre call plan or not, you are calling someone who isn’t expecting your call using an interruption strategy. All I can say is that you know its going to be a fun discussion when no one can even agree on what the heck a cold call is in the first place.

2)    The Anti Cold Calling Theory of Working Smarter Not Harder: One way this is misunderstood is by the people who embrace the theory in too much of a literal sense. I’m all about working smarter. In fact, I’m one of those idiots who believed that all you had to do was make a kazillion calls and statistically speaking you had to win. My issue with this statement is that too many times “working smarter” becomes an excuse for not getting our uniforms dirty. In many cases we are  preparing to prepare instead of working.  For example: I’ve interviewed sales professionals who do more along the lines of 15 targeted calls per week and that’s it. I’m here to tell you that if that’s all you do, you aren’t working smarter. You simply don’t have enough activity to make it. My feeling is that I can research the heck out of 15 companies but if between caller id, assistants, voice mails etc I only connect with 3, even with a perfect score, I only have 3 appointments.

3)    The Researching A Prospect Is An Excuse Crowd: These are the ones who feel that all you should do is “smile and dial” More specifically, they are the ones who believe that you are slacking if you are researching clients and its basically an avoidance strategy. Depending on the rep, they could be right or wrong.  Here’s an easy solution; when its “game time” we play the game, not research the game. Therefore, it makes better sense to do the research during off hours instead of money hours. Problem solved. I’m here to tell you that if you don’t take the time to research there are tons of prospects who are going to call you out on it. I’m also here to tell you that you gamble when you don’t take the time to research . You gamble in thinking that your competitor hasn’t prepared better than you. That my friends is a suckers bet every time!

4)    You Suck If You Don’t Cold Call: These are the people who believe that there is no other way and if you don’t want to cold call, you have a poor work ethic. To that I would respond with a simple question “Why would you care how I get my sale as long as its between ethical and legal?” If I’m making my numbers or I have a solid plan on how I will generate the revenue, why is that not valid? Furthermore, when I bring home the bacon (and I will) does it count less because it didn’t  originate from cold calling? Also,  what if I truly suck on the phone but I’m a brilliant public speaker or master blogger or social networker? Why would you discourage me from using those venues if I get the results?   Note to Sales Managers: Sometimes we are so busy trying to convert a rep into something they aren’t that we fail to help them shine in the areas where they are in fact, quite strong. I want to make sure that I’m crystal clear on something. As a trainer, I wholeheartedly believe that we have to face our fears and step outside our comfort zone. I also believe that we have to really look at ourselves in the mirror (the unforgiving full length one) assess ourselves and work on the areas that need some fixing up. The challenge with that is when we spend so much time on weaknesses that we don’t enhance or work with our strengths.

5)    It’s a Numbers Game: Let’s say this is 100% true and in this context the phone is a stand alone new account acquisition strategy. Utilizing a well thought out “sales mix” will improve those numbers.  When I say “sales mix” I’m talking about email, snail mail, creative things, networking, social networking, blogging, E-Books, lunch and learns, speaking engagements, referrals, webinars etc. Saying that the phone is a numbers game, a “contact sport” if you will, can also force us to be so focused on the number of calls that we fail to communicate a compelling message.

6)    Here’s A Huge Area We Are Misunderstanding: The fact that everyone has a preferred communication venue. For some it’s the phone, for many it’s email, others its through social networking etc. The plot thickens folks because we need to really look at the Gen Y’s that are moving into influencing/decision making positions. What do you think their preferred communication venue is? They love to email, text, communicate through social media and the phone is usually ranked last. When we embrace the phone as a stand alone strategy, we limit ourselves to say the least.

7)    Cold Calling vs Social Media: I have a simple answer to this. Why? As in why does it have to be one vs the other? Why can’t they both exist together as part of that well balanced “sales mix” we discussed earlier?

8)    “When I started Out, All I Had Was The Yellow Pages & A Phone” From now on, if anyone says that to you,   I want you to pat them on the head and give them a “bless your heart” for good measure. That used and abused line is nothing more than a justification for being too cheap and/or lazy to invest in Sales 2.0 Technology or in training you to be more lethal in your craft.

9)    The Sales 2.0 Enthusiast: This is the person who relies so much on the shiny new object or is so busy talking about Sales 2.0 that they fail to realize that sooner or later, this will most probably come down to a phone call, in real time (as in not virtual or more specifically one where you aren’t communicating on a computer screen) For some, they have a bad habit of clinging to the virtual world where they feel safer, for others they understand that all of these virtual relationships have to transition. When we do transition or to that end of transitioning, we’re going to need those tried and true skills that some feel are now antiquated.

10)  The Cold Call Is Dead: We could debate this one all week. Some of the misunderstanding goes back to how we define a cold call to just calling it like we see it because we know what works for us.

And maybe that’s what sales is all about. You and I having lots of cool choices, the willingness to try different approaches and the wisdom to know what works best with our particular style.

Paul Castain is the Vice President of Sales Development for Consolidated Graphics (CGX) one of North America’s leading general commercial printing companies. Paul has over 25 years of sales and sales leadership experience. He has trained, mentored and coached over 3,000 sales and sales leadership professionals.

An accomplished public speaker, Paul has delivered numerous key note addresses. He has authored numerous training manuals, articles, blog posts and is currently working on his first book for release in 2011.

You can contact Paul by clicking  here:

Source: Jonathan Farrington’s Blog

JF Uncut

George (WMD) Bush; Brad (Horse’s Ass) Blakeman; Tony (The Poodle) Blair; Gordon (Iron Chancellor? – My Arse) Brown; The George (By George, What A Rip-Off) Hotel Edinburgh – what do these people and places have in common? They are a very small selection of the topics that I have felt compelled to write about here in my Saturday column – on my day off.

Writing (rambling on) about issues and people that really p*** us off is relatively easy, because the emotion takes over, and the vitriol just flows. What requires a little more thought, is when something or someone makes us very happy, because inevitably, there is so much to say.

It is suggested that when we encounter poor customer service, we (the British) rarely complain, we vote with our feet and never return. Today, I have an opportunity to tell thousands of you about a company who offer outstanding – really outstanding – customer service. Oh, and the products are pretty outstanding too!

So, just who is Johnnie Boden?

In his own words, nineteen years ago, a failed stockbroker began selling clothes from his West London flat – today, arguably, he heads up one of the most successful mail-order (and online) clothes businesses in the world – but that doesn’t begin to describe the man, let’s take a glimpse behind the scene, to discover why the personality has created the success …

The story so far:

“After five burglaries, one office dog, nine Christmas quizzes, twelve nights spent in the warehouse, one consignment of refugees arriving with a clothes delivery, four office moves, quite a few sense of humour failures, a few sackings (but thankfully not many), 2 venture capitalists, 6 awards, about twenty fantastically annoying customers (mostly related to me), a couple of crooks, 520 King Pizzas (”Continental” medium thin crust with extra anchovies for me), a great team spirit, one incredibly tolerant wife, bucket loads of sweat and even more laughs, we’re still here! “

The history:

•Boden was founded in 1991
•We initially launched with just 8 menswear products
•In 1994 we launched womenswear
•Childrenswear (Mini Boden) followed in 1996
•Our UK website launched in April 1999
•In 2002 we launched in America
•2003 saw the opening of our new, larger warehouse in Leicester
•We opened our first shop in Hanger Lane, London in 2004
•Baby Boden launched in 2007
•2007 also saw the opening of our Walton-on-Thames store
•And our launch in Germany
•Today we employ over 600 hard working staff
•We ship over 3,000 orders every day from our warehouse

Question you never knew you wanted answering:

“Why are important meetings at Boden known as Shags?

In the early days when we were just getting things going, we couldn’t afford the luxury of enough space to devote to meeting rooms. Instead, if we had something that needed discussing in private, we’d wander off to the nearby Holiday Inn. If anyone asked, we’d simply say that we were nipping off for a quick shag. It stuck.”

Johnnie’s ideal dinner party guests:

Boudicca
Jonathan Ross
Marilyn Monroe
John Peel
Napoleon
Oscar Wilde
Mona Lisa
Henry VIII
Jesus
Winston Churchill
Nancy Mitford
Nelson

Things that make Johnnie smile:

A friendly face
Good manners
Riding very fast on a horse
The sound of my children’s laughter
Seeing happy customers in Boden clothes
Rare filet steak, mash (with lots of cream) and gravy
Sunset over the smoking shed
Our employees (almost always)
People trying really hard
Many episodes of Blackadder, Little Britain etc etc.

Sound like someone you’d really enjoy having a few beers with? Yep, me too, which is why I wanted to write about him today – but not just about him – as much about his 600 strong team too, who make dealing with Boden such a pleasure.

Boden have genuinely raised the bar when it comes to customer service; they don’t just go the extra yard, they go an extra mile – and they deserve every plaudit that comes their way.

Don’t just take my word for it – go discover for yourself -
UK: www.boden.co.uk
US: www.bodenusa.com
DE: www.bodendirect.de
AT: www.bodendirect.au

And finally, a very special thanks to Vanessa Dubuisson, who so charmingly and efficiently dealt with my last query! 

FULL DISCLOSURE: I never accept reward, or entertain offers for paid endorsements. My pleasure is to share my experiences – both good and bad!

Source: Jonathan Farrington’s Blog