Failure Is Not an Option October 01, 2007 Steer your team to success with these proven strategies
By Izabella Iizuka
No matter the product or service, selling is a tough business. Having a thick skin, a great work ethic and an unflappable "can-do" attitude are among the most crucial traits needed to launch a successful selling career.
But your sales team also needs to know where the potential pitfalls are and how to avoid them. By discussing with team members the primary reasons why salespeople fail, you're providing a roadmap for success that will help them throughout their careers.
"Whether your team consists of 1,000 salespeople or just one, the simple fact stands: Avalanches roll downhill," says Keith Rosen, president of Profit Builders and author of Time Management for Sales Professionals and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cold Calling. "It starts from the top, and that's why managers are 100% accountable for the success and failure of their sales teams."
Rosen suggests the following tips:
1. Develop your skills as a coach. Without actually participating in a coach training program to develop your own skills, all you are doing is changing your title (rather than your essence, thinking and skills).
2. Consistent weekly coaching. The more time you spend at the gym and the better you eat, the healthier you become. The same rule applies to maintaining and building the health of your sales team.
3. Develop a strong start orientation program. Take the time to outline the measurables and milestones you expect every new hire to hit within the first four weeks.
4. Hire better people. The more interviews you conduct, the more interviews the candidate has with various people within your organization and the less chance you will make the wrong decision.
5. Implement a tactical turnaround strategy. Companies that lack a clearly defined strategy to handle underperformers tend to overcompensate in other areas for the weakness this void creates. A four-week turnaround program will help you identify what's really going on and provide you with the framework to quickly determine how you can turn around an underperformer in less than 30 days … or whether you and your company are better off without them.
Remember that rejection is tough on everyone, even the most experienced sales professional. Make sure that both the grizzled veteran and the wet-behind-the-ears newbie recognize that objections are just another opportunity for a sales rep to demonstrate value.
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
This article is brought to you by Sales & Marketing Management, the leading authority for executives in the sales and marketing field.
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