My friend Jeff Lehman has a new book coming out.  I’ve read a preview copy.  It’s entirely different from his last one, The Sales Manager’s Mentor (Second Edition).  

I met Jeff at the National Collegiate Sales Competition a few years ago, where we were both judges. He was just finishing the second edition of Mentor. I read through every page of the first edition, only wishing I had this sage advice when I was a young, inexperienced sales manager.  In fact, The Sales Manager’s Mentor is my all-time favorite book on the subject of sales management.  I recommend it to sales managers all the time.

The only regret I have about The Sales Manager’s Mentor is that it never received the accolades it deserves.

I’ll write about Jeff’s new book in two weeks, when it’s published.  Stay tuned.

I’ve been invited by Avitage to talk about sales coaching in their upcoming webinar.  I’ll be discussing symptoms of ineffective coaching, the reasons that companies don’t have ongoing coaching systems and six key steps to take to assure that coaching becomes the critical component of sales effectiveness it should be.  You can read my previous post about Avitage here.

Coaching is one of the most critical components of a total approach to sales effectiveness, but it is often underutilized and mismanaged. 

I’ve been enjoying my conversations with Jim Burns, CEO of Boston-based Avitage.  Avitage is a small technology company that provides communication mechanisms and techniques for, among other things, delivering sales and marketing messages.  In fact, Jim pointed me toward several Avitage-developed vignettes that very effectively describe PrivateSalesCoach, the new tool his company has built.

Uh oh. I have no idea where we are with each person on our target influencer and decision maker list."

PrivateSalesCoach is a tool sales leaders of certain companies need to consider.  The web-based software tool works on principles that are common to coaching with most sales methodologies. 

During my first call with Jim, I was skeptical.  I didn’t think that a packaged software application could provide an adequate coaching solution.  Jim talked me through it, and then I test drove the product.  (ESR will be interested in speaking with some companies that are using PrivateSalesCoach down the road.  At that point, we will formally review this product.)

What’s the “private” part of this?  Sales people can respond privately (and we expect truthfully) to the “flight check” questionnaire without worrying about what their boss is going to say or do.  The managers don’t get to see the details of each salesperson’s virtual coaching session, but rather the aggregate strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies of the group.  That way they can focus additional training or face-to-face coaching in the areas where reinforcement is needed.

I don’t see PrivateSalesCoach replacing live coaching.  Nor will it work in every situation—I would expect that integration with a CRM system would being a requirement for some companies.  With that in mind, it can provide salespeople and their managers with an effective, complementary coaching function, aligning the rep and manager, once and for all, toward a common goal—that’s winning business.

Sales down? Consider a strategic approach to training.

You’ve probably read a lot of articles by sales trainers entitled something like, “Why Sales Training Doesn’t Work.”  Google that phrase and see what I mean.  You can also look again at the title of this post for another example.

The TAS Group’s CEO, Donal Daly, wrote a post on The Sales 2.0 Network blog that provides examples of things companies do (in this case, three Fortune 500s) that demonstrate they have no idea how to drive sales performance improvement.  Brian Dietmeyer, a guest blogger wrote a post with a similar theme.

At ESR, when sales training doesn’t work, we look at the reasons.  Here are some predominant ones:

• inadequate (or lack of) requirements definition
• inadequate funding
• lack of executive buy-in
• engaging with the wrong training company
• not having a sales methodology in place first
• irrelevant training content (e.g. not using examples based upon real customer experiences)
• training delivery and medium not designed for effective learning
• no post-program reinforcement
• not including other departments within the company where appropriate 
• not providing first-line sales management with training and process for coaching the reps
• not having appropriate technology support for learning and sales enablement
• not having the right people for the sales positions in place
• not having a measurement process in place for real-time feedback on what’s working and what isn’t
• not having specific learning objectives in place
• using a one-size fits all approach
• management doesn’t participate in training
• not having tools available for immediate use (cold-calling scripts and ROI models, as examples)
• no thought has been paid to the behavioral changes required for sales performance improvement.

One can easily predict, with considerable accuracy, when sales training is not going to have an impact on the performance of the sales team.  There is no randomness.  No guesswork.  Hoping won’t work either.

To put it simply, if sales training is looked at it tactically, it isn’t going to work.  When it is viewed strategically, it most often does get the job done.

Do you look at sales training strategically?  Take this test:

1. I can state most of the learning objectives of the next two training interventions. (True or False)
2. We track leading performance indicators that warn us early on about sales performance gaps. (True or False)
3. We have an institutionalized, ongoing coaching program in place for sales reps and their managers. (True or False)
4. Ongoing sales effectiveness is seen by our CEO as critical for achievement of corporate goals and objectives. (True or False)
5. We have invested in technology to support effective learning and selling. (True or False)

If you have answered “false” to more than two of these items, you’ve got some serious work to do.

Debbie Antonelli of Richardson pointed out to me that a recent survey by ExecuNet has only 54% of sales executives are satisfied with their current job:
 

I’m being not cynical when I say I’m surprised that the percentage for sales executives isn’t lower. 

More insight from the survey:

Top Five Reasons Executives Are Unhappy At Work

1. Limited advancement opportunities (12.8%)
2. Lack of challenge/personal growth (12.3%)
3. Compensation (11.7%)
4. Stress Level (7.7%)
5. Job Security (7.7%)

For sales executives, I believe there is another reason for unhappiness in their jobs: many don’t have the capabilities to perform successfully.  It’s too much of a challenge rather than lack of a challenge (indicated in number 2 above).

Here are two indicators that this is true:  First, tenure of sales executives is getting shorter year after year.   These sales executives aren’t leaving their jobs in less than two years because they’ve been wildly successful.  Second is the overall lack of performance of the sales people that work for these sales executives.  Here are the stats again, for those of you who missed them:

• Depending on the industry, 25% (e.g. heavy equipment) to 33% (enterprise application software) of sales people are unsuited for their job. (ES Research Group, 2007)
• Only 37% of companies report forecast accuracy is greater than 50%. (CSO Insights 2007)
• In 2006, 38.5% of salespeople missed their annual objective. Turnover among salespeople last year (2006) was 40%. (Sales Benchmark Index 2007)

This isn’t just a bad situation.  It’s an epidemic.

What will the next guest speaker at your sales kick-off meeting deliver?

1. Content?
2. Motivation?
3. Entertainment?
4. Results?

If you are planning, attending, expecting results from, or paying $5,000 to $50,000 (or more!) for the privilege of listening to someone talk for an hour or so, you need to think carefully before you answer that question.

As part of my discovery process for a keynote I’m to deliver at a kick-off meeting, I ask the stakeholders what results they expect from my appearance.  “For the team to sell more.”  “To get them motivated.”  “For them to have some fun.”  Sometimes all three responses come from the same person.  I ask what percentages of content, entertainment, and motivation they want.  Few have thought very much about it.  Over the years, as a buyer of these services, as a speaker, and now as a recommender of other speakers, I’ve learned a few things about this aspect of sales kickoff meetings.  Let me pass a few of these on to you…

Many kick-off meeting stakeholders (VP of sales, marketing director, CEO, event planner) think that they can have a sales trainer come to their annual event for an hour, three hours, or even a day and that person will deliver meaningful content that will have a lasting impact on their team’s  performance.  Most often this isn’t the case.  Sure, we’ve all picked up a trick or two from most content-oriented speakers we’ve heard.  But long-lasting impact on the audience?  Measurable results?  Those require behavioral change and someone speaking to you for an hour isn’t likely to effect that change.

Some think that a pure motivational speaker (former athlete, astronaut, president) will deliver a message that will impact sales performance through behavioral change.  (The “If my team gets up an hour earlier every day, they’ll sell more” type of thinking.)  Again, most often this category of speakers just can’t deliver those results for you.  Sure, they can fire up a room full of sales people.  I’ve been fired up many times by the best of the best.  But being fired up is for today and maybe tomorrow morning. It’s not for next quarter.

Motivational speakers have the most impact when their performance is integrated with meaningful learning and training in the support of behavioral change relevant to the attendees’ job performance or personal growth. It’s critically important that follow-up is provided.

When considering hiring a speaker for your meeting, set your own expectations properly.  Don’t extrapolate receiving business results from a generic keynote speech or breakout presentation unless it is either an legitimate knowledge transfer (such as an expert discussing the industry into which you sell), or it is integrated with your overall sales performance improvement strategy.  If you’d like to provide your team with an hour’s entertainment, some new things to think about, the voice of experience or a passionate call to action, that’s fine.  Just don’t expect any of that to have an impact on your bottom line.

Disclosure:  I regularly speak at events (see the “Speaking Tab” above).

As I mentioned in my earlier Springsteen post, I’m in Ireland, “on tour” delivering a series of workshops for sales executives.  One module covers hiring sales people.

Directly responsible for hiring the wrong sales people are the sales leaders who haven’t developed that skill and don’t have a process. At the root of the problem, however, is the inability of many CEOs to hire effective sales leaders. This situation has reached epidemic proportions. The average tenure of a sales leader isn’t much more than six quarters.  That’s three quarters trying to ramp up, two more of waiting until things get better, and one last quarter for executing the exit strategy.

Let me share with you one scenario: Being on board just a year, with performance far below expectations, a VP of sales was fired by the CEO that hired her. A colleague of the CEO recommended “a terrific candidate” with whom he had worked “a while” back. The CEO interviewed the candidate, they hit it off, and they came to terms.

Since the new VP was never put through a comprehensive and objective assessment, the CEO didn’t know that that VP had two major weaknesses. First, the VP didn’t have the skills required to hire the right people for his team.  Second, the VP was weak in team building skills as well.

So two quarters later, the new VP brought in two of his former reps who, although being successful at their former company, were unqualified for this new position.  Upon bringing on the new people, the VP alienated two existing top performers whose territories were “adjusted” in order to give the new reps a head start.  Those two existing reps decided to leave to join other companies. The VP quickly hired two more reps that   were equally as unqualified as the two brought in earler.

Twenty-one months later, the VP was fired.  His excuse for lack of performance was that the company’s products were deficient and couldn’t be sold for one reason or another.

Theoretical, you might say. It doesn’t really happen this way…  Wrong. This is a real situation. The bad news is, based on available statistics, it happens every day.  The good news is that it’s curable.

Jim Brodo, Senior VP of Marketing from Richardson, asked if I would contribute some content to their newsletter.  I went back over some of what I wrote over the past year or so, and rediscovered a piece on promoting top sales reps to management positions.

This is an important issue for both the sales person and the executive  considering promoting that rep.  Here’s the bottom line:  the skills and traits for success in a sales management position overlap but are very different for success in a direct selling role.  That means that if that salesrep, no matter how well they have performed, does not possess the specific skills and traits required for success in that management job, they are likely going to fail. 

I know that executives are faced with a tough decision when a top salesrep comes to them demanding a management position.  I’ve spent a fair amount of time working with reps and managers on that very issue over the years.

By the time this situation occurs, it is usually too late for a positive outcome.  The salesrep may have told her colleagues or family about their plan and staying in their current position may not be any longer possible.  (When this situation does occur, it’s a sign that effective career counseling within the person’s company has likely not taken place.

I’m thinking now about Lou, a very strong salesrep, who worked for a client’s company.   Four years ago, the CEO of that small technology company called me and asked what I thought about him promoting Lou to be VP of sales, a position that was then open following the firing of the person that held that job. I asked whether Lou was qualified.  The CEO didn’t think so, but then he hadn’t really thought about what was required for success.  With the CEO’s approval, I called Lou and spoke to him about the situation. He told me he decided that he was the most qualified person in the company to assume that position, and that he would leave if he didn’t get it.  We had a number of discussions over several weeks, while the CEO assumed the role of VP of sales.  Lou became concerned that he might not be as qualified for the position as he first thought.  He continued to sell and made his numbers for the next two quarters.  The CEO had by then hired a strong outsider for the VP of sales role.  Lou stayed in the company, determined to get to that next level.  Fast forward.  The company got acquired, the new VP of sales left and Lou took over as VP of that division of the larger company.  He had plenty of support and, last I heard, was quite successful in his new role.

Here are my recommendations on the topic of promoting strong sales reps to sales management positions:

• If you’re a salesrep and you’d like to move up the ladder for whatever reason, spend some time understanding what is really required for success as a manager.  It’s considerably more than just strong selling skills. You can’t fake it, and these days there are few companies that would wait for you to train on the job.
• If you’re the executive, think about this:  If the rep isn’t qualified, it’s just a matter of time before they fail in their new role as manager.  Then, not only do they leave your company, but the situation probably winds up worse than before they took the new position. So, if that rep comes to you for a promotion, it’s time to sit down with them and to explain to them precisely the capabilities they need to be successful.  Perhaps agreeing on a six-month plan for them to get up to speed on they key management skills would enable both of you to feel the likelihood of success is considerably greater.