Sales Performance

In November 2011, I wrote a 4 week blog series based on some research from Gallup about the 4 key factors that determine a salesperson’s success:   

1.       Intrinsic motivation

2.       Disciplined work style

3.       Ability to build relationships with customers

4.       Ability to close a sale

While the first 3 aspects are more linked to characteristics of a good sales person, the last one really depends on the PROCESS in which a salesperson works with their prospects and clients.  In retail, managers often push their salespeople to "Close, close, close!" because they know the statistics that when a person leaves without buying, the chance of them coming back can be thwarted by a number of factors, which leads to items remaining in the warehouse.

In more complex B-T-B sales environment, the way you consult your client will have a dramatic effect on not only if they buy, but how much they buy, how fast they buy and if they will ever buy from you again.  Many companies are good at initiating the opportunity.  Their marketing department has done good analysis of determining what companies want/need and the price they are willing to pay for their products or service.  With a well-written email or good phone call, a salesperson might be able to set up a meeting.  From that point, this is where most salespeople FAIL.

In Mahan Khalsa’s book, Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship, he and co-author, Randy Illig explain that when in a more complex sale envirnoment, salespeople need to learn to work with their clients in IN ORDER.  They need to understand their client’s needs (Opportunity Creation) and build them a solution that exactly meets their needs and help them get results (Opportunity Conversion).

The Key to Sustained Superior Sales Performance lies solely on getting a sales force to adopt a proven methodology and hold them accountable to execute the process.  As a sales leader, if you can do this well, you will hit your quota year after year and you’ll have plenty of happy clients that are willing to be referrals.

To learn more, consider requesting a meeting with your FranklinCovey Client Partner using the Online Appointment Book (top right of this page) or even joining us in Dallas on February 22-23 for our regional 2-day public session for Helping Clients Succeed. 

To your sales success,

John Vakidis

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