Success Expectations for the New Salesperson
Now that your new graduates are settled in at your company
and have been wowed by HR paperwork and sales meetings, the race is on to get those joint calls under their belts. It's back to school for these wide-eyed wonders as they soak up as much knowledge as possible. The following is a tweaked version of an oldie but goodie-- focused on creating expectations for success. It would be great fodder for your experienced salespeople as well. Now, let's get those books cracked and ready.
We've said it before- product knowledge is the bedrock of selling. From this sound foundation flows the ability to present solutions, grow enthusiasm, and drive sales. Product knowledge pushes to the surface like a fresh spring in the desert wilderness. And, just like the spring water, the most productive flows are channeled to the place where they do the most good.
In sales, a well-developed process serves to direct product knowledge to the most productive utilization. Think of this, unless the product knowledge is presented to the right customers with a specific set of corresponding needs and an appreciation for the value provided by the seller, resources are wasted. Miss the mark with any of these and sales growth is compromised.
Build accelerating factors into the stream of salesperson activities and the sales numbers grow faster. Insert habits that improve the probability of closing a higher percentage of orders.
As we move forward in this series we will discuss targeting in great detail. But before we get to that, we should discuss some of the fundamentals of setting expectations.
Far too often, new salespeople are turned loose on their territory and we at River Heights Consulting are called in sometime later to figure out why they aren’t performing. Typically, the sales manager is at their wit's end-- they start off with a litany of things the seller is not doing and end by asking for our suggestions for improvement. The sales numbers are not growing, but that’s just a symptom of the real story. Simply put, the new person is not executing their job correctly – they’re not meeting expectations.
Selling is activity based. There’s nothing highly magic about the situation. Take a bright person and load them with the right activities and they have great odds of success. The first batch of expectations is purely activity based.
Here are our suggested expectations, tweak them for your organization. Regardless of what you use, you need to sit down and make a list of these to insure there is no miscommunication.
Expectation 1: Some say it's old-fashioned, but salespeople must be at work before 8:00 AM. With the move to more home flex offices, this is difficult for some people to handle. At work before 8:00 AM doesn’t mean rolling out of bed and sitting down to check emails at 8:01. It certainly does not include dropping the kids off at school at 8:25. Sounds strange, but I keep hearing the same story.
It’s not a generational thing. I knew guys who went through this back in the 1980s. They all had good excuses. They knew somebody who was successful in spite of relaxed work hours. But, the new guy should have expectations laid down on the first day.
Expectation 2: Your earliest appointment should be made no later than 8:30 AM. Actually, this is a double expectation. First, I expect appointments to be made – no drive-by sales guys. Second, one of the biggest issues with new salespeople comes with getting stuck in the office. They start the day off on time and on schedule with a 7:30 arrival, grab a cup of coffee, and then do a few reports. Customers call in, and they get stuck doing reactive work, which could have easily been handled by their support staff. The next thing they know it’s time for lunch.
The corollary to this expectation is the expectation that they have an appointment at 3:00 as well. Blocking out the day with two proactive and planned activities pushes people to a whole new zone.
Expectation 3: Salespeople take notes. I like notes in a composition book that are difficult to pull out pages. The salesperson should have the composition book with them always. Phone notes, customer visit notes, sketches of proposed products, new contacts met and everything else is in that book.
Expectation 4: The notes are either logged into the company CRM system or reviewed weekly to make certain that every commitment, customer request, and anything else that came up has been handled. I have a method for dealing with this information that was taught to me by my boss back in the 80s. You probably have one too. The point is to set expectations.
Expectation 5: Communications are a critical bit of the selling business. New salespeople, however, still struggle to return phone calls, answer emails or get quotes back to customers on time. You should think about how much time is spent from the initial customer call to the return call. The answer should be no more than a single business day. Even better, try four hours. The point is, again, to lay down these expectations.
Expectation 6: Every sales call has a purpose. Howdy, dowdy (where you just stop in to say hi) calls don’t cut it.
Expectation 7: The new salesperson should know who is responsible for generating quotations. This varies by company, but it’s not uncommon for a new salesperson to waste time developing a quotation just to show off technical prowess. Conversely, quotes are delayed because the salesperson thought somebody else was going to take care of them.
Hopefully, you are starting to get the drift on setting action-based expectations. I have over 50 expectations for new sales folks. You may have more or less, but do understand these aren’t passed down by osmosis.
If you want a more hands-off approach to getting your newbies on the right path, give us a call or email and we'll see up a small interactive training group!
years of "in the trenches" training and 17 years as a consultant. He serves as a personal coach to industry leaders across many lines of distribution. He has authored 5.5 books (one is almost done) and has written hundreds of articles for national trade magazines, including Industrial Supply Magazine.
Frank is also a sought-after copywriter of marketing materials for technology companies. His charismatic, yet laid-back, easy-to-follow manner makes him a favorite among public speakers.
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