What’s going on here?

• Sales training has been around for more than 100 years.  Yet every year, new approaches appear with the promise of being “The Silver Bullet.”  Old approaches—even those that are relevant to fixing the proble—are labeled “old-school,” and rejected.
• On Amazon.com there are 29, 469 books under the category of “How to Sell.”  In “Sales Techniques” there are 11, 194.
• I’m personally tracking 80 blogs about selling.  There are many more.  Dozens provide solid advice.
• There are several hundred sales training firms ESR is aware of, yet there is no single one or two that dominate, as you would see in any other industry.
• In 2008, U.S. corporations spent around $6 billion on sales performance improvement, yet sales productivity (pre-recession) was down.
• The number of free webinars focused on improving sales capabilities is at an all-time high, and increasing.  So are free articles, eBooks and white papers.
• Reports, statistics, surveys, research and opinion related to sales ineffectiveness are abound.  Here are just a few sources: CSO Insights, Forrester, Sirius Decisions, The Sales Executive Council, Selling Power, Sales and Marketing Management magazine, most of the major sales training companies, and of course, ESR.  You can find anything you need to know about the subject among these sources.
• There continue to be emerging movements with value propositions focused on sales performance improvement.  The latest is Sales 2.0.  Add the new online social media to the list.
• There is no shortage of associations and groups focused on sales performance: SMT (The Professional Society for Sales & Marketing Training), ASTD’s Sales Training Drivers, UPSA, SAMA (focused on Strategic Account Management, an advanced selling discipline), SMEI, The Sales Management Association, USEF (The University Sales Education Foundation), and a dozen or more groups on LinkedIn.

What’s my point?  The root causes of sales ineffectiveness are clear.   There is plenty of sound advice about how to fix the problem.   There is a proven path.  The answers are there for everyone to see.   There are companies you can read about and observe that have achieved sales excellence.

So, recession aside, why is sales as a profession and function, losing ground?

Let me know your thoughts, please.

Photo credit: © dragon_fang – Fotolia.com

Followers of this blog are familiar with the high value I place on planning, competitive selling strategies, and political leverage for winning complex sales situations as well as for effectively managing strategic accounts.  I was first introduced to Holden many years ago by Steve Slaughter, a salesrep who worked for me who had been through Holden’s PowerBase Selling.  I subsequently brought Jim Holden and his team into that company and others as well.  Although Holden wasn’t right for every company at that time, they certainly were for us.  Stellar implementations of the Holden methodology at several companies with whom I was engaged enabled us to grab and sustain leadership positions.

Like most sales training companies, Holden International has been through some significant challenges during the past decade. Recently, I spent some time with the executive management team as part of our research for ESR’s upcoming 2009 Sales Training Vendor Guide and was encouraged by what I heard.

Holden’s President, Ryan Kubacki, has been at the helm for just over two years.  His background in sales and marketing at AT Kearney (acquired by EDS), Calypso Systems and Microsoft provides him with a solid foundation for the tough challenges ahead.  At this point, he certainly seems up to the task.

Ryan made a point that Holden is solidifying what has been working all these years, while at the same time layering innovative delivery approaches as they continue to strive for sustainable user adoption.

ESR has always viewed Holden as a methodology-centric provider.  What’s new is that Holden is now looking at their place within a company’s total sales approach a bit differently.  In some cases, for example, they are positioning themselves as a solution to be layered “on top of solution selling, for example.”  We’ve not yet spoken with any customers using that hybrid approach, but we intend to.

Matt Martin, VP of Consulting Services, has invested considerable time in both their selling to large accounts as well as transactional territory transactional management offerings.  Holden needed development in those areas to provide a more comprehensive solution.

One of the complaints ESR has regularly voices in our research about sales training companies is that some of the mainstream companies just plain skip the tactical proficiency component of a total sales approach.  They’re much more about the “what” to do, with little attention to “how” to do it.  We’ve seen blank sections of RFP responses where vendors had no solution for some percentage of a sales team that needed help with basic selling skills.  Holden is determined to meet those requirements.  That’s a plus.

Now Holden offers content in new account penetration and sustaining the executive relationship.  We also learned they now offer a  PowerBase business development course, personal productivity workshops and a program in selling through channels.  (Not to take away from Holden, but ESR knows that effective channel management requires more than a program or two and a few dedicated people…)

Holden understands how important coaching is to sustainable sales performance improvement.  They are revamping their sales manager coaching curriculum, and it is “taking off.”  Many years ago I was certified to deliver Holden’s Sales Management program.  The coaching piece was solid back then.

Holden has invested in their eFox tool (powered by White Springs).  It is being componentized and full-blown account management support is forthcoming.  That’s progress as well.

This all may sound terrific to you, if you’re searching out a sales performance improvement provider. I can only warn you that selecting Holden or any other company based upon this or any other one-page write up is precisely the wrong thing to do.  If you are presently, or will be evaluating sales training companies, consider investing in ESR’s upcoming Sales Training Vendor Guide, where we really compare and contrast Holden against 25 other leading providers.

Disclosure:  Holden International subscribes to ESR’s research.

Photo source: © JJAVA – Fotolia.com

One of the top firms among the 26 sales performance improvement providers ESR covers is Performance Methods, Inc. (PMI).  Founder and managing partner Steve Andersen is recognized as a thought-leader in the demanding and often misunderstood area of strategic account management. (Listen to Steve in an ESR/Podcast.)

To understanding what a strategic account management methodology is you’ve got to look at that old word “strategy.” Your salespeople are simply not going to be able to drive the kind of long-term, mutually profitable relationship with a customer by the seat of their pants, employing  tactics, tips and tricks.  Strategic account management is serious business.  In the U.K. I worked with a Hewlett-Packard SAM whose team of 40 HP account managers serviced a Europe-based global consumer package goods company.  Even your best heavy-hitter sales hunter would fall flat on their face in a business situation like that.  Believe me.

Over the years, ESR has recommended that some of our clients join The Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) for the programs, resources, expertise and ability for their SAMs (strategic account managers) to network with other SAMs.  Steve Andersen is one of the experts that present regularly at SAMA events.

I posed a few questions to Steve as we come into this challenging new year:

Dave Stein: What actions are some of the more strategic of your clients taking during this economic crisis with respect to managing their strategic accounts?

Steve Andersen: Everyone knows that a supplier’s most important assets are their customers, but I continue to be surprised at how little some organizations are doing to become more strategic to their most strategic customers. Despite the economic downturn, many of our clients are investing in best practices that will position them to become more strategic to key customers through the deployment of advanced selling skills and the strategic account management efforts of their sales organization. We’re seeing a renewed commitment to understanding how important customers define value, sell, create and deliver this value, and then follow-up with customized metrics and measures that have meaning and significance to both the customer and the supplier. (Note: ESR audited and certified PMI’s sales performance improvement measurement methodology.)

DS: What are they doing in-house to weather the storm?

SA: Many of our clients are re-assessing their value propositions for their most strategic customers and are now deploying programs that will connect them more directly with what these customers value most. Other are expanding the level of field coaching that they expect from their first and second-level sales managers and equipping them to be more proactive with sales coaching best practices that will help them create value for their reps and salespeople ‘out on the street,  reducing rework in the process. We have several clients with travel restrictions going into effect for 2009, and we’re building customized, blended training and reinforcement programs for them (utilizing WebEx, Sales 2.0, Web 2.0/3D and Second Life technologies) to maintain the momentum of their current training initiatives, and in some cases, to launch new, “next level” initiatives. Other clients are planning to get more out of their investments in CRM solutions, and we’re working actively with them to technologically enable their sales best practices solutions to provide more value to the end-users.

DS: Do you see any new or innovative approaches in the area of strategic account management?

SA: Yes – many! So many, in fact, they PMI is offering a new “sales best practice” solution area to our clients that we refer to as “Innovate to Differentiate.”  Through our client work, we have had the good fortune to observe the best practices of some of the top account managers in the world and have documented and organized our findings in what we call the “Zones of Innovation.” When we observe an innovative best practice, particularly those that either create customer value, provide supplier competitive advantage/differentiation, or as is usually the case, both, we add this to the appropriate “Zone.” In a smaller 2009 market, we believe that innovative best practices can be the difference between winning and losing business, and of all of the innovative best practices that we’re observing, perhaps the “hottest” is planning collaboratively with strategic customers—our clients’ customers, that it.  It’s surprising to see just how much can be gained by simply changing the way that you engage with your customer so that the supplier is more aligned with their customer’s decision process.

DS: What are PMI’s prospects for 2009.

SA: 2008 was one of the most successful years in PMI’s history, and I believe that this was because of the type of value that we are creating for our clients. Much of our work is at the strategic customer/supplier level, as opposed to basic Sales 101—type training, and these types of projects are more important than ever in a down economy. To illustrate, we kicked-off a new client project in November with the SVP of Worldwide Sales taking center stage and informing the audience (his entire sales management team) that he could either “invest in the future” or shut-down all discretionary spending. He explained that his decision was the former and he made it quite clear that he expected them to do their part and win a “bigger piece of a smaller pie” in 2009. This client is deploying several of PMI’s SAM programs. This evaluation was quite competitive, with several vendors covered by ES Research in the mix, as well as an incumbent “strategy consultant.” With clients like this, we are forecasting another strong year in 2009.

Note: ESR has found that many sales training providers do not have specific methodology, curricula and content for strategic account management programs.  Yet, they try to convince their buyers that they do.  In 2009 ESR will target coverage of challenges and solutions around strategic account management and the providers that excel in that discipline. This is the first part in a series.

Disclosure: Performance Methods, Inc. subscribes to ESR’s research.

Photo credit: © Jason Branz – Fotolia.com

At party I started chatting with a nice guy, late 20’s or so, neatly dressed, with bright, intense eyes. We talked weather, current events, the usual stuff, and then I popped the question. “So, what do you do?”

He smiled. He said he recently bought a route in his area selling cold cuts and other provisions to delicatessens and restaurants. He proudly mentioned their name. I recognized the brand. Anyone would.

So how’s business, I asked. His smile intensified. It’s terrific, he said. I’ve asked that question a few thousand times over the years, and I don’t remember anyone admitting it wasn’t. I asked what was so terrific.

“I’ve got this account up on Route 7. I was there last week. I wondered why he was carrying another brand of turkey, so I asked him. He told me that our product was more expensive than the other brand. I told him that although the price of mine was higher, our marketing people tell us most people find it tastier and as a result end up buying more of it than the other brand. On a napkin, using how much business he does with his current product, I showed him that since the margins were better selling my premium product and he would sell more of it, he would make more money. I showed him how much more, on paper. He put in an order right then and there and after a week, he’s dropped the other brand. He’s happy, and I am too, since he is ordering more from me.”

I asked where he learned how to do this. He described the many weeks of intensive training he received—products, marketing, customer service, accounting, and sales. Apparently the company has very high standards not only for the quality of the products they provide, but also for the route owners/drivers themselves. I learned it’s not enough just to come up with a wheelbarrow full of money to buy a route. You’re also going to get scrutinized, background checked and assessed to the point of exhaustion. The company knows that their success depends on the relationship between owner/driver and customers and they are not taking any chances on that front. This owner knew list of rules and restrictions backwards and forwards. If you break a rule, depending on its severity, they may just take your route away.

The day before the party, a terrible wind storm had hit the area. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses lost electricity. You know what this savvy businessman did? He called each of his customers in advance. Then he drove his entire route, detouring for hours around all the downed trees and power lines, delivering to his customers who had electricity. But for those without power? He and the customer carried the inventory of cold cuts and provisions from the non-functioning store refrigerator to his truck, where he would store them until their power was restored. “I’ve got meats and other stuff from ten of my customers in my refrigerated truck right now plugged in at the back of my house.” He was beaming. “I gave those customers my home number to call me when they get power back and I’ll bring them back their inventory.”

Here are my take-aways:  1) Young entrepreneur collaborates with customer to model business case for switching products.  Customer switches and wins.  2) Same entrepreneur creatively services customers far above their wildest expectations.  Builds loyalty, competitive immunity, and significantly increases the value associated with his personal brand.

Continued from Part 1.

7.  Explain the reason this happened. “This happened because I didn’t double check the release dates on what I believed to be the latest copy of our development schedule. I was looking at an outdated copy.”

8.  Explain why this will never happen again. “Our VP of Development was upset to hear that this happened. He has instituted a new communication mechanism whereby any changes in the development schedule will be emailed to everyone in the sales, marketing, support, and professional services organizations, with return receipts on those emails, which will be tracked in a database.”

9.  Conciliate. Explain what you are going to do about it. “Jim, I’ve already gotten authorization from our VP of Development to put your project at the top of the stack. As the mistake was ours, he also insists that we take on this special project at our cost. The good news is that when the standard interface is released in June, we’ll be delighted to provide it at no charge, since you will have already paid for that capability.” (Those of you in the technology sector will appreciate that there are additional issues that must be addressed in a situation such as this.) At that point continue to explain how you feel this news might be positioned to others in Jim’s organization.

10.  Ask if there are any concerns or questions about what you said. “Jim, I’ve told you the news and explained the impact and a recommended course of action. Are there any issues that I may have missed? Do you have any questions or concerns?” Answer any questions he may have at this point or tell Jim that you’ll get him any answers you aren’t sure of. If the VP of Development (in this case) is not there with you, you may want to have him or her to be available by phone to answer any additional questions or just to support your statements to the customer.

11.  Close for his support. This is a step that is often neglected.  “Jim, I’d like to know if I can count on you to accept my apology and continue to work with me to keep us moving forward together.” It is important that you are patient at this point and do not speak.

Additional points and reminders

• Look at the bad news from the customer’s position first, not yours.
• Ignore the urge to spin.  In situations like this when you are being scrutinized with an electron microscope, it’s important that you are telling it straight.
• It is extremely important to use this procedure if this is a competitive situation and your opponent is aware of the bad news. Once they get in to your customer and spin the news to their advantage, you’ve missed an opportunity to protect yourself from attack. In the words of Dr. Andrew Mason, “Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them.”
• If you work for a public company, you’ll have to consider the aspect of timing. You cannot disclose to a customer anything material that hasn’t been announced publicly. It’s selective disclosure and illegal. But if you wait too long after the public announcement is made, you’ve left time for your competitor to act.
• Don’t waste time. Take action now. When you find out the bad news, jump right into the assessment phase. If you wait too long, you’ll lose the opportunity to be the first person to tell your client the news.
• Apologize and accept responsibility. Then go forward. No need to beat yourself up. That will only dilute your efforts to build credibility.
• Don’t forget to ask for the person’s support. It would be a waste of energy to go through all of this effort and then have to guess where you stand with the customer.
• If there is something of value you can provide your customer that will further appease them, consider offering it. In this case, perhaps forgoing the first year’s maintenance fees on the interface might be appropriate.

Delivering bad news is clearly not fun. However, it could be the very thing that will highlight a valuable component of your corporate (and personal) brand to your customer .

Are your salespeople sitting around just waiting to be outsold?

Part of what ESR does is to identify, size, and prioritize the gaps that exist between our clients’ sales teams’ skill sets and what is required for them to win more business, sooner, and at higher contract values.

There are different ways to categorize those gaps.  For the purposes of this post, let’s look at basic versus advanced selling capabilities. 

Here is are just a few basic selling capabilities:

• Managing a territory
• Cold-calling
• Planning and executing an end-to-end sales campaign
• Uncovering and understanding the customer’s business challenges and opportunities
• Planning and executing a successful meeting with a prospect
• Ability to understand and state their company’s value proposition to customer executives
• Delivering a presentation about their company, their products and basic information about their customer’s business
• Ability to follow their company’s sales processes
• Having a basic understanding of their competition’s company and products
• Managing objections (should they arise)
• Negotiation
• Closing

And some selected advanced selling capabilities:

• Determining the competition’s selling strategies and devising effective counterstrategies
• Successfully employing competitive selling tactics, such as setting traps and immunizing the customer against a competitor’s negative selling
• Ability to link the strategic value of a product or service to the customer’s long-term business objectives
• Identifying, recruiting and leveraging politically powerful people to influence an evaluation team or decision-maker
• Employing personal capital to effect an introduction to the CEO of a targeted company
• Being seen as a trusted peer by customer executives
• Effectively managing the long-term relationship with a strategic account

Here’s the problem:  There isn’t enough sales skills training going on.¹  What is taking place is mostly Sales 101—basic selling skills.  Not enough attention is paid to the advanced selling capabilities I listed above, among others.  There are several vendors that meet or exceed their clients’ requirements and expectations with respect to advanced selling IP, processes, coursework, and coaching.²  But, many vendors don’t.  Even vendors with well-known brands.  The problem with that is they can only get you so far.  They can’t provide you with what you need to consistently and predictably outsell your competitors. 

The basics are critically important for sales effectiveness.  But they alone aren’t enough.

So, what happens when you have four companies with basically comparable offerings competing for the same business and none of the salespeople managing the deals have the advanced selling capabilities mentioned above?  Decisions made on price, features, a sexy demo or the most well-known brand. It’s a toss-up as to who is going to win.  But if one company’s sales team possesses advanced capabilities, how do you think they’re going to do?

Not every salesperson needs advanced selling skills.  But, if you’re in a complex selling environment and your salespeople don’t have all the skills required to win, you’re asking to be outsold.  

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¹ A 2007 DePaul University Study reported that only 43% of companies responding said they had a formal sales training program. Of those, only 50% provided sales skills training.
² Performance Methods, Inc. is one vendor that provides advanced selling solutions. Disclosure: Performance Methods subscribes to ESR’s research.

Don't have a customer org chart? You lose!

An org chart is invaluable in a complex sale.  When I was coaching sales teams, I refused to help a rep with a deal unless they had an up-to-date org chart.  If a rep can’t get someone in the account to give them an org chart, they should be able to build one with help from their contacts.

Org charts are so important that several sales training companies require them as a critical component of their opportunity and account management plans.  More advanced opportunity and account plans (and supporting software) allow you to overlay a political map on top of the org chart so you see the relationships between influencers, decision makers, your supporters and your enemies.  (By the way, if you’re in a complex selling environment and your team isn’t taking the political landscape within the customers’ organizations into account when developing a strategy to win, you need help.  Yesterday.)

In a comment to Brian Lambert’s post on the Sales 2.0 Network blog, Walter McConnell reminded me about Forbes Corporate Org Chart Wiki.  Try it.  Think about what impact org charts and the skills to understand them would have on the outcome of your team’s sales opportunities.