These seven "principles" affecting sales productivity have
been condensed from global survey results on salespeople
across a variety of industries and cultures. Regardless of
what business or environment one is in, the applicability
of these ideas are universal.
1. New prospects are the lifeblood of a business.
2. Selling is a "Numbers Game." The more you contact, the
more you close.
3. Without new prospects, all presenting and closing skills
are worthless.
4. Getting sales people to prospect, rather than showing
them how to prospect, is sales management's greatest
challenge.
5. Eighty percent of new sales people, who terminate in
Year 1, do so due to lack of prospecting activity.
6. Forty percent of veteran sales people experience one or
more episodes of Call Reluctance severe enough to threaten
their sales careers.
7. Assessment of existing willingness or reluctance to
prospect is the starting point in improving sales
productivity.
Aside from the issue of "fit" -- which has to do with
whether or not a person is suited for a sales career in the
first place -- prospecting is the most important behavioral
variable that affects success in sales. However,
prospecting is not about the "how to." My own experience in
working with hundreds of successful and not-so-successful
producers boils down to this simple truth: Prospecting is
80% motivation and 20% skill. Converting (i.e., presenting
and closing) is 80% skill and 20% motivation. Conscious or
unconscious resistance to prospecting for new business is a
complex behavior that has many underlying roots.
In numerous research studies over the last two decades,
psychologists studying successful sales behaviors have
learned that skills and knowledge are the easier elements
to identify and develop. Though essential for peak
performance, they are by themselves not sufficient for
breakthrough results. Skills and knowledge are the "tip of
the iceberg" so to speak. The unseen structure below the
waterline is more difficult to identify and develop. They
are: (a) self-image, (b) traits, and (c) motives. These
"submerged" attributes are actually the underlying
characteristics that lead to longer-term success.
In our consulting and sales coaching practice, we generally
acknowledge two key (interrelated) modes that govern sales
success. The first variable is simply a person's "internal
wiring." This is the "Strengths Profile" that characterizes
how a person acts within a work/professional context. The
second centers on prospecting behavior, which is equally
identifiable and measurable. Prospecting reluctance can be
reduced to three components: thoughts, feelings, and
actions. Actions are generally accompanied by thoughts and
feelings, which are in turn learned and/or genetically
predisposed. For the most part, call reluctance usually
involves learned negative emotions like fear. The good news
is that it can also be unlearned and corrected -- some
types easier than others to "cure."
These two "bookend" modes, Strengths and Sales Call
Reluctance, provide a framework (i.e., the chassis) for
selecting, developing and training sustainable and
successful sales performance.
What are the roots of "sub-optimal prospecting" aka Sales
Call Reluctance?
Psychologists studying successful sales performance have
learned that skills and knowledge are the easier elements
to identify and develop. Though necessary for top
performance, they are by themselves not sufficient for
breakthrough results. Skills and knowledge are the "tip of
the iceberg" so to speak. The unseen structure below the
waterline is more difficult to identify and develop. They
are (a) self-image, (b) traits, and (c) motives. These
"submerged" attributes are actually the underlying
characteristics that lead to longer-term success.
While most people have a predisposition to one or more
forms of prospecting reluctance, this does not mean that
they are call reluctant. Sales call reluctance (SCR) is an
"aggregation of emotion-based escape and avoidance
behaviors particularly associated with the act of
initiating first social contact." This concept was
developed by Dudley and Goodson in the 1970's. They can be
differentiated from broader concepts like social anxiety by
the type, degree, onset and limited specific nature of the
symptoms. Though environments differ significantly, success
in sales invariably requires generating new business,
translating into increased revenue.
Contact initiation with prospective buyers (and, in our
business, professional referrals) is considered a core
competency. Failure to prospect consistently and
effectively for new business is the most cited reason for
poor sales productivity. Studies linking call reluctance
and outcome measures such as commission dollars have shown
that contact initiation with prospective buyers, or lack
thereof, can distinguish high and low sales producers with
up to 73% accuracy. Other factors become equally critical,
if not more important, once first contact is made. However,
initiating contact with prospective buyers must occur -
consistently - before sales can be made. This fact remains
regardless of product sold, sales training provided,
production incentives, sales support, or even market
conditions. All of the above factors can be present, but if
there is a call reluctance issue sales success will not be
sustainable. In the early days of the reverse mortgage
business, prospecting was not the limiting constraint.
There was a lot of low hanging fruit, and it was relatively
easy to "get to the kitchen table." Most successful people
differentiated themselves with their kitchen table skills.
Nowadays, the tide has turned. People who have an ingrained
disciplined system that allows strong, consistent and
ethically appropriate prospecting will survive the tough
times ahead. Any effective training program to improve
sales productivity begins with an accurate diagnosis. In
our coaching interventions, we start with a much more
comprehensive on-line assessment, which then becomes the
blueprint for improving the skills and behavioral
competencies around successful prospecting. Without
effective identification and valid/reliable assessment,
effective counter-measures cannot be introduced. Though
sales call reluctance is a "normal" phenomenon present even
in the best producers, research has shown that it is the
single most important variable (i.e., the proverbial "weak
link") in determining whether you are earning what you
truly deserve.
----------------------------------------------------
Monte Rose has personally trained and coached managers and
producers during his tenure as salesman, manager, and head
of a major national retail sales organization. An
accomplished speaker and widely-quoted industry expert, he
has appeared in financial publications and nationally
syndicated media. His expertise is helping organizations
align passion, talent, and strategy to achieve breakthrough
productivity.
Contact info:
http://www.monterose.biz
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