Creating a dynamic sales force

I feel like I”™m caught between a rock and a hard place. As owner, I bring in most of the company”™s sales. I”™m also spending a lot of time training a new salesperson. Eventually this person will produce sales, but right now I”™m spread thin and I fear we won”™t have enough sales this quarter.

Thoughts of the day: Bringing on salespeople can be challenging. Make sure you”™re hiring people who can do the job. Set up systems to make new people productive quickly. Focus new people on highest payoff opportunities in order to build confidence and momentum.

Almost every business starts out relying on the owner for sales. But the owner can only sell so much. If the business is to keep growing, the owner has to hire people who can add new customers and sell additional services or products.

One of the most difficult transitions any company owner makes is shifting from salesperson to building a sales team and delegating sales responsibility. The skills are entirely different. Sales people are doers. They chase deals. They operate intuitively. They want to be in the middle of the action.

Sales managers know how to step back, delegate, assess and coach. They”™re willing to risk losing deals as part of the training process. Good managers operate at a high level of conscious competence, clear about goals, process and intention. They live indirectly, through the success of their people.

Many business owners live in the middle. They want salespeople to succeed, but are unwilling to risk losing sales. They have way too much contact with the company”™s current and future customers, as they try to get new salespeople to take over. Owners are often unclear about what they do to succeed in sales and find it challenging to teach new salespeople what to do. As a result, they support their salespeople inappropriately, stepping in when they should step back, unable to explain without doing.

The hiring process is especially problematic. The owner wants a solution. Being an eternal optimist, the owner can see the possibilities in the people they”™re interviewing. Prospective salespeople focus on convincing the owner they can do the job, as they push to close the sale and get hired. Everyone wants to move forward, and voila! You may have just hired the wrong person.

Take time to interview multiple times. Ask customers and staff for their opinions. Don”™t worry if candidates drift away. You”™re looking for a key player who both wants and can do the job.

Test candidates as part of the search process. I am always amazed when a business owner says he or she doesn”™t want to spend a few hundred dollars to test someone. They”™re about to spend thousands per week in payroll, share trade secrets and invest time and effort training someone before results kick in. Tests are not definitive, but they can help both owner and sales candidates assess the fit.

Set up tools to speed learning and reduce missteps. Script what the owner says to prospects. Document the typical sales approach. Help the new salesperson cut out time wasted in experimenting. Compare sales results with the company”™s standard sales process to determine where the trainee is excelling or struggling.

Set the tone day one. Make sure salespeople get out right away to make calls. Set clear goals and measure progress. Make sure salespeople know the goals are non-negotiable.

Increase confidence by focusing on sales that are likely to happen. Ask salespeople to expand existing customers. If there”™s a problem, your customers will give you feedback. And if the salesperson is any good at all, they”™ll figure out how to sell something sooner rather than later.

Give out leads. Don”™t compete, delegate. Ask salespeople to chase early stage opportunity. Make time to discuss progress and coach. Resist the temptation to step in and do it for the salesperson.

Pay attention to results. How many leads should the salesperson uncover week one, month one? How many qualified prospects should be on the salesperson”™s list within one month, three months? How many proposals should go out? How soon should the first deal happen? If the salesperson is making excuses instead of producing results, fix it or move on to the next candidate. Make sure your new hire is performing at or above standard.

Looking for a good book? “How to Hire and Develop Your Next Top Performer: The Five Qualities That Make Salespeople Great,” by Herb Greenberg, Harold Weinstein, Patrick Sweeney.

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Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., strategyleaders.com, a business-consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. She can be reached by phone at (877) 238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi?  Please send it to her, via email at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com  or by mail to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Visit AskAndi.com for an entire library of Ask Andi articles.