Aug 29, 2013
Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/
“Hey, it’s a jungle out there”. A brilliant meeting followed by
a woeful meeting; the emotional roller-coaster world of sales.
You’re up and down within minutes, depending on the client’s
interest and reaction. You’re always too early or too late for the
business chance.
The client is never on your timetable, especially your schedule
around meeting the month’s quota. So how do we keep salespeople
motivated to push through and produce the needed results?
Managing salespeople requires time-usage perspective. Break the
team composition down to some key segments; the star, the
non-performer, the new or developing, and the plateaued
employee.
Our natural instinct is to spend a disproportionate amount of our
time on “fixing” non-performers. Stop doing this!
Instead, spend only 10% of your time on it and give them clear
guidelines, firm activity targets, lots of encouragement and sell
them hope.
Tell them they can do it but let them do it—don’t do it for them.
Send them to training to get the required skills.
The plateaued employee should get slightly more attention—around
15% of your valuable time. This group needs you to model the sales
process, to go together on joint calls and to receive your
coaching.
Set realistic activity levels, monitor achievement and let them
know that your time becomes more available to them the more they
achieve results.
The new and developing deserve 25% of your attention. Their
attitude and skills are good, but they lack experience. Extra
coaching, your modelling of the sales technique, and priming the
pump with some new leads all set them on a course for becoming
high-level performers.
In fact, they are keen and want to succeed, to challenge the more
established performers for the top sales spot.
The star performer is often neglected because we see them as
capable, skilful, competent, already producing—we think we just
need to get out of their way and let them get on with it, and use
our time to do other things.
Big mistake! They need 50% of our time.
Their capacity for even bigger deals, bigger clients and more
strategic solutions is the greatest you have available to you.
Don’t waste this succulent opportunity by spending your time with
low-level performers who, even if they doubled their production,
would not make a great deal of difference to the overall monthly
quota achievement.
Get the star performers dealing exclusively with higher-level
strategic accounts. With your seniority and contacts you often will
have better initial access, and so can clear their path
forward.
Don’t use your prime client opportunities as a training exercise
for less capable salespeople!
Keep thinking of new ways to challenge the stars. They have the
capacity to do more complex deals so keep pointing them in this
direction.
At the same time, clear obstacles, find them needed resources, and
don’t forget to praise and appreciate them.
Often these employees are highly driven, so we think they are
totally self-contained and don’t need our recognition. Not true!
They may not need it but they still want to hear it from you.
Formal, informal and daily recognition tools are some of the basics
in the sales manager’s toolbox. Examples of formal recognition are
awards, reward trips, plaques and pins, while informal
acknowledgment is a spontaneous recognition of milestones
achieved.
Examples include an individual or team lunch, tickets to a film or
sporting event, a holiday or food. Daily appreciation might include
a simple “thank you”, a congratulatory handwritten note, or
recognition in front of the group.
Be careful with this last point in Japan. Being singled out for
praise in front of one’s peers can be uncomfortable in a
group-oriented culture like Japan, where fitting in is more valued
than standing out.
Murahachibu (banishment from village collective celebrations and
joint activities) was a traditional exclusion technique used to
punish those who didn’t fit in. Japanese know that in many cases if
you stand out in Japan, the knives will come out!
So, very often to give praise in private is a safer bet.
However, when you do give praise—whether in private or in public—be
specific. Tell employees what you admire, the reason (with actual
evidence), and then ask them a question so you can shut up and they
can do the talking.
By the way, “good job” is the most pathetic form of praise as it is
so meaningless. Many bosses use it; don’t be one of them. Rather,
be clear and precise about exactly what workers did well.
Top salespeople are competitive but money isn’t the only
recognition tool available to you. Find out what else each of your
sales team members want and tailor rewards to them.
Knowing what your individual team members want should be a big part
of your psychoanalyst role as sales manager. There are many studies
done on engagement, motivation and what employees want from their
organisation. Read these for reference but, better still, just
ask!
Spend time uncovering the desires and aspirations of your people.
By the way, these change over time, so keep checking what tangibles
and intangibles they are seeking.
To motivate your team, try this: praise early, praise often, praise
with detail, and reward with what they want—not what you think they
want.
Related article by Dr. Greg Story, President of Dale Carnegie Training Japan: "Essentials for motivating salespeople"
Related video by Dr. Greg
Story, President of Dale Carnegie Training Japan: THE Leadership Japan
Series #5 - Essentials For Motivating
Salespeople