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Understanding the Sales Force
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
 Don't you hate whiners? These are the people who complain, rationalize and criticize EVERYTHING. There is some criticism that is warranted, justified, needed and appropriate - much like the coaching I do each day - but I'm talking about unnecessary whining, when adults behave like kids and come up with something negative just because they can.
Prospects, Customers, Salespeople, Managers and Senior Executives are all guilty of whining.
Great Leaders, great sales managers, and great salespeople do not.
Let's focus in on salespeople. Why do they whine? Why do they look for things to complain about?
- You didn't go on the road with me.
- I didn't get the support I expected.
- The product doesn't work the way it's supposed to.
- My territory sucks.
- I'm not making enough money.
- You're too critical.
- I don't get enough attention.
- You took too long to get back to me with pricing.
- I had to do everything myself.
- It's a negative environment.
- I don't get enough of the leads.
- I shouldn't have to do that.
- I didn't know my commission would be that small.
- I didn't sign up for that.
- My leads aren't as good as everyone elses'.
- I did exactly what you told me to do.
You get the picture. I can guarantee one thing about comments like these: Your top performers (real sales professionals) aren't the ones taking their time (and yours) to whine. Oh no. This stuff is the exclusive domain of the under achievers and they whine to justify their lack of success. Whining might distract you from their dismal performance and further distract them from performing the work they're supposed to be doing.
So next time someone whines to you about well, you, what should you do? Whine back? Reprimand? Thank them? Ask questions? Set the record straight? What would you do?
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
I was reconciling my Amex statement and found these charges:
55.51
57.85
57.06
58.06
55.86
56.81
I have always believed that in sales, the three most important attributes (not skills) are the willingness to do what it takes to succeed (commitment) the passion for being the best (desire), and the discipline to repeat the required behaviors and activities (consistency). Those numbers? My gasoline charges for last month. They are certainly consistent - no matter how I got there.
- I could have waited until my fuel guage reached a certain point and pulled into the nearest service station - but that wasn' t it.
- I could have stopped the pump before it approached $58.00 - but that wasn't it.
- I could have refueled whenever I passed a certain station I liked based on my schedule - but that wasn't it.
- I could have refueled on the same day and time each week - but that wasn't it.
- I could have driven a certain number of miles before refueling - but that wasn't it.
- It could have been a huge coincidence - but it wasn't.
I am a very consistent individual. Consistency simply happens because I expect it to happen. It's in my demeanor, which doesn't change much regardless of what might be taking place.
- If I am managing salespeople, that consistency applies to coaching and accountability.
- When I am coaching clients, the consistency applies to the format and outcomes of the call.
- If I am prospecting, my consistency applies to call quantity and quality.
- When I am selling, my questions are very consistent.
- I am consistent in the number of hours I work each day, as well as the time I wake up and begin work.
- If you checked, you would find that most of the articles on this Blog are posted between 5:30AM and 6:30 AM. That time indicates when they are completed, not when they are started. I usually begin them at 5:30 and some get done sooner than others.
You probably know some salespeople who are consistent too, but unfortunately, most of them are consistently bad!
Do you feel like fixing something on your sales force today? Figure out what/who could be more consistent, determine what behaviors must change, identify something measurable, set better expectations, and drive the change home!
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
 I recently paid a visit to the men's restroom (more comfortable in that one) where I saw Steve, our building maintenance man, on the floor repairing the sensor that automatically turns the water on and off. About 90 minutes later (right on schedule), I was back and shocked to see Steve still down there on the floor. I asked what was taking so long and he said, "Well it works just fine when it's not connected to the faucet but when I reconnect it the darn thing stays broken!"
Just like salespeople!
If your salespeople are going through any kind of up-to-date sales training or coaching, then they know they're supposed to ask questions and resist presenting company or product features and benefits. In the classroom they get it. In the classroom they can do it. In a coaching session it works. But as soon as you plug them in to a real sales call, by phone or in person, they revert to being obsolete.
Just like the faucet, it will work in time. The key is, as with Steve, you can't give up. You must keep plugging away, reinforcing the new thoughts, questions, behaviors and expectations until they become natural. In most companies, the training and coaching just isn't frequent enough, comprehensive enough or effective enough. Then, when it doesn't seem like it's working, it's much easier to quit, revert and be comfortable again. Comfort Never Equates to Sales Success but Sales Success Does Create Comfort. It requires Discomfort to Gain Success in Sales.
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
 Getting salespeople to recognize how badly they sound and how ineffective they are when selling on the phone isn't easy. And just so you know who I'm talking about (and to save you from commenting about how these nuances are different) I'm including prospecting, cold-calling, telemarketing, telesales, inside sales, inbound marketing, outbound marketing and lead gen roles as "selling on the phone".
There are two methods that I prefer to use:
- Have them make a call to me and then I make the call to them and we compare the two calls. After the comparison, I help them optimize their tonality, content and strategy.
- Method #2 works best if we have already conducted method #1. Have them record their calls. At least, after method #1, they should have a better sense of what they are comparing their calls to. Without method #1, they may recognize how bad they sound, but rarely will they recognize how ineffective they are.
In most calls, the first 10 seconds are the worst and it only takes the first 10 seconds for a prospect to make these three crucial decisions:
BE ATTENTIVE OR IGNORE? RESPOND OR GRUNT? ENGAGE OR HANG UP?
In this day and age, there isn't much of a chance to get prospects to be attentive and engage unless your salespeople sound great and ask effective questions at the right time. And if prospects don't have a reason to be attentive and engaged, they can't make the next decision:
INTERESTED OR NOT INTERESTED?
If your salespeople are unable to interest their prospects there is zero chance of reaching the goal for the call which, depending on the salesperson's role, could be anything from a qualified lead to a scheduled appointment to a transactional sale.
One problem that most salespeople have is that they mistakenly attempt to go from Hello to Interested in one move. That's like trying to go from start to check-mate in one move in Chess. Or putting for an Ace from the Tee Box! You can try to do it all day long but it won't ever work.
If you're working with salespeople who must do at least some of their selling on the phone, observe and listen to how they sound and what they say in the first 10 seconds. Put yourself in their prospects' shoes. Would you choose to be attentive, engage and be interested? If not, the work starts right there.
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Dave Kurlan is a top-rated speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and highly regarded sales development expert.
 One of the most amazing musical performances I ever witnessed took place about 9 years ago in New Orleans. We had front row seats at a small venue that advertised an "all star jazz band". The first musician to arrive was the guitarist, who sat polishing his axe (guitar). Next, the drummer arrived and introduced himself to the guitarist. Then the bass player arrived and introduced himself to the first two. The next to arrive were the saxophonist and trumpeter. They did as the others did, shaking hands and setting up. Someone mentioned to the guitarist that this was a jazz gig, not a rock gig, and he should get his other guitar out. The guitarist nodded and took out the more appropriate equipment. Finally, at one minute before 8 PM, the organist walked on stage, introduced himself to the other five musicians, mentioned that he was the musical director, handed out the arrangements, sat at the organ, and at 8 PM, yelled, "one, two, three, four" and the band began to play. They had not only NEVER PLAYED together before, they didn't even KNOW each other! Despite that, they were tight, in sync, confident, flexible and completely aware of the expectations, where they were in each tune, and what they had to do to make each song sound like they had rehearsed it together a dozen times. It's their masterful ability to listen, observe and improvise within a defined structure.
If you want to know what professional salespeople should be able to do, it's exactly that!
They should be able to walk into any meeting, at any time, at any stage of a sales process, and any stage of the buying process, having never met a participant, and within minutes, be in sync, confident, flexible and completely aware of the expectations, where they are in the sales process, and what they must do to move that sales process forward to a successful outcome. It's their masterful ability to listen, observe, and ask unscripted (improvised) questions within a defined structure (sales process).
Professional Selling is just like being in the All-Star Jazz Ensemble. It's being so good and so experienced, that one can perform perfectly, on demand, in any environment, despite tremendous pressure, regardless of product knowledge and expertise.
How many of your salespeople have this capability?
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