Fear factor

Jolting salespeople from their d.gmfort zon

svBill Btades William Blades, LLC Gold Canyon, Az.

f RECENTLY ran into an lexecutive who two years before had been keenly interested in my training and consulting services.

I asked why he had not engaged me. He replied, "Bill, you scare us."

"Scared of growing sales too much," I asked, "or do you have a manager who doesn't want to improve?" I knew what the answer was-and so did he. You see, the executive wanted my help after hearing me speak at a convention. A week later, he called to say, "One of our managerp wants to utilize a consultant who has been developing our lowerlevel supervisors as he is comfortable with him." Translation: "We're in a box and we do not want more sales."

Don't be afraid of growing. Be afraid of standing still.

One in a million salespeople have a degree in sales. Past training and education are in the past. What's important is equipping your sales group with today's best, most up-to-date training.

Genuises join Mensa. The minimum IQ rating excludes the majority of us. My IQ results were negative. Shoot, the closest that most college students get to a 4.0 is their blood alcohol content. Yet, among U.S. Mensa members, only 18Vo have Master's degrees and just 3OVo earn $20,000 to $40,000 annually.

Evidently, a lot of smarts went for naught. Real-world training and education is better than being born smart because when the group is held accountable for acting on new skills, sales and margins go up. Why? Because the majority of your competitors are still making calls (social visits) like they did 20 years ago. The best salespeople know that what they do matters. Others need to be taueht to just go do it. Now, a few tough questions: l. Do you invest a minimum of 47o of your revenues in training and education? Often, we invest in everything but our human capital.

2. ls 25Vo of your sales force famous or lengendary because they are so good? Since an overwhelming number of salespeople are average. it is quite easy to do a slam-dunk on just about everyone else. They just need to be shown how to excel and then be held accountable for such.

3. Do most of your salespeople act and execute as they did one year ago? Even five years ago? If the answer is yes, then provide coaching for your sales chief first. The sales chief must be growing at a faster rate than those he leads. One v.p. of sales who hired me to work with his group said, "I must admit I am afraid of being exposed." I answered, "Good, the sooner the better. Then, we can eliminate the glaring weaknesses."

4. When you put a version of Total Quality Management in place, do you do the same for the sales department? If not, everyone can be just pretty good and retain employment.

5. Is every salesperson providing an abundance of value and joy for every prospective and existing client? If so, they are greatly ramping up sales. If they tell you repeatedly, "Our price is too high," they are just trying to sell stuff to people.

A month into a recent sales training program, one young man wasn't catching on. Suddenly, during a oneon-one session, the light bulb came on. Sixty days later I asked him, "How many new clients have you picked up in two months?" Six, he replied.

"Annualized volume?" $2 million.

"What were your sales last year?" $3 million.

"How much more will you add this year? Tell me the clients, the primary products and exactly how you will make it happen." $6 million, he answered, then gave all the details.

When I began my services, this kid had an attitude. Now, he really had an attitude! He was the first to buy my books and tapes. I don't know about this youngster's formal education, but he has become a very serious student. Serious students get serious results. He's on his way to superstar status.

There are hundreds, yes hundreds, of skills to learn in the sales profession, including communication, focus, value/joy, time utilization, needs analysis and style. Yet, we hire salespeople, tell them to hit the road with their existing skills and then wonder what went wrong. Have each of your people acted on just l0 new skills in the past year? How about six? Three?

Training is not a cost. Rather, it is an investment to help you from getting the same tired results. We let salespeople go through the motions of visiting and talking. That's an old shor gun approach of just showing up and hoping.

Now ask, "Are we really okay?" If anyone in your group answers yes, be afraid. Then have the courase to improve.

- Bill Blades, CMC, CPS, is a professional speaker and consultant specializing in sales and leadership issues. He can be reached at (480) 671-3000 or bill@ williamblades.com.