|
[
Home ] [
Subscribe ] [
Previous Newsletters ]
Help Salespeople Be More
Productive, Sell More, and Cost
Management Less - Part 2 of 2
Sales management and
executive teams have launched this
year's sales plan and are attempting to
fill open sales job recs to help
maximize their potential and hit their
annual forecasts.
Yet, many of these sales
forecasts will be missed, sales
management will be quietly discussing
what to do with unproductive salespeople
in the back room, and executive teams
will be outwardly frustrated.
So how can sales
management prevent this from happening?
First, before I give you
this elusive magic formula, let's
identify the key asset of your firm in
order to sell more.
It is not your
product or service.
It is not your
delivery system.
It is not your
marketing.
It is
your sales team!
Now, you can believe it
and sell more, or debate it and sell
less.
Firms are quick to pay
out $18,000 headhunter fees to "find"
the right sales candidate but once the
candidate is hired, it is the last time
the management team "invests in this
asset."
For greater success in
your sales reps, invest ongoingly to
help them be more successful.
The question any CFO
would ask you is how much and how
often do you invest to maximize the
return on our assets (salespeople)?
To calculate this answer let's look at
the lifecycle of a sales rep to see how
to maximize the investment.
Lifecycle of a Successful Sales Rep
From the previous CxO
News article, we have taken the
sales rep success cycle and broken it
down further into three distinct
quadrants of time and company
investment.
- Quadrant A: The
timeframe of hiring and probation.
- Quadrant B: The
timeframe for sales training, sales
pipeline development and company
support.
- Quadrant C: The
timeframe that reflects the success
of a sales rep's account closing.
Most accounting departments do not
equate investment in sales training as
an investment in asset management. But
the term "sales training" is a misnomer.
In fact, the key phrase is "sales
learning."
Sales Learning ROI Graph
As you can see by the
Sales Learning ROI Graph, the
greatest sales team ROI is when you
invest in ongoing training and company
support in Quadrant A and B and then
continue into Quadrant C. As you move
further away from the actual hire date,
you will see that the success and level
of ROI is determined by the ongoing
support provided to the sales rep. So,
training intermittently or at the end of
a sales rep success cycle will return
you the smallest level of ROI.
Sales learning must be
consistent or else you are wasting your
asset (the sales team).
3
Steps to Maximize a Sales Rep's Success
- Hire slow. Don't
rush to fill open sales job slots
just because you need a headcount.
- Train often and early.
Your asset is your sales team.
Invest in them. Provide a strong
consistent inside support system and
focus most of your training in
Quadrant A and B timelines with
continued reinforcement in Quadrant
C.
- Terminate fast.
Once a sales rep is in the Quadrant
C timeframe and is unproductive, you
cannot continue to carry them. As
mentioned in last week's email, the
average non-productive salesperson
costs you at least $85,000 a month
while employed.
Invest in your
sales team early and often or
risk minimizing your asset's ROI and not
hitting
this year's sales quota!
To sell more . . .
start protecting your assets by
investing!
To read Part 1 of this
article, please
click here.
Rick Erling
President The CxO Group,
LLC and Publisher of The
CxO News
www.thecxogroup.com
info@thecxogroup.com
(972) 727-6880
Recommendations provided are to be used
at your discretion and are provided
solely as an independent opinion.
|
