Huh?

That's right. Today I heard about a CEO who told one of my colleagues that all of his salespeople over achieve.  In the same phone conversation he mentioned that sales are down 20%.  Can you imagine where sales would be if his salespeople under achieved?  

I think that many CEO's are in a time warp.

Despite the struggles of their sales force in this economy, they still view the sales force as they remember them when times were good. 

The problem with this is that even the good times did not accurately define these salespeople.  Salespeople who succeed when times are good but struggle when times get tough are not over achievers.  They are mediocre salespeople who simply don't get in their own way.  Over achievers find ways to succeed in all conditions, good and bad.

I think that many CEO's are in denial.

Despite the struggles of their sales force, they continue to look at the pipeline and say to themselves, we'll be okay as soon as these deals close.  But the deals aren't closing and with each passing day companies are less okay then they were the day before.

I think that many CEO's are scared shitless (the only truly accurate word I could type there).

Because of the struggles of their sales force, they look at the numbers, down 90%, down 75%, down 50%, down 25% and wonder how they can turn it around.  It can be turned around but they have to be proactive, not reactive.  They have to be aggressive, not passive.  They have to work on the right end of the problem - revenue - not just costs.

Truth is, our data shows that only 6% of all salespeople over achieve.  And another 20% can become over achievers.  Who do you want on your sales force and what are you willing to do to develop them or recruit them?

(c) Copyright 2009 Dave Kurlan

Some of our many readers at Understanding the Sales Force leave their comments when they feel so moved to do so.  One reader, who chips in with a comment from time to time, identifies himself as Chubby Davis.  Look at the tremendous value that Chubby adds to our discussions:

Out of the dozens of valuable comments from the Best Sales Advice in a Single Sentence, Chubby wrote, "Your client is lying to you!"

From the article,  How Long Does it Take for a Salesperson to Get It?, Chubby wrote, "...Bean Town Bullshit !!"

From the article, Verizon Wireless - Tech, Lies and Audio, Chubby wrote, "Welcome to Amerika".

Among the many great suggestions contributed to Managing the Sales Force - The Calendar, Chubby contributed, "Can hit the local 'Titty Bar' !!!" 

From the article, 5 Sales Management Tips From My 5 Year-Old, Chubby wrote, "That's it, me have no kid = not enough sales !!!" 

And in last week's, How to Find the Compelling Reasons for Seth Godin's Intangibles, he commented, "Of course it's a 'fairy tale' ..who wants to hear the f%cking truth" 

Chubby's antics remind me of the bad-apple, renegade, maverick salespeople that many companies are stuck with.  I say stuck because most executives can't choose between having a functional sales force versus a top producer that is also the local cancer distributor. 

I've met hundreds of these individuals during the past 25 years and they're all pretty much the same.  They're loud, arrogant, know-it-alls that crave attention and will say pretty much anything to get it.  Their act includes insults, teasing, and jokes at somebody else's expense; Publicly complaining about company policies, managers and products; Failure to show up when expected and showing up when asked not to; Hitting on individuals of the opposite gender at their own company and at their customers, and late night partying; And running up the company expense account after spending way too much money bringing their customers to night clubs.  These people make Manny Ramirez look like a good citizen!

As bad as these people are, they aren't the real problem.  The real problem is the manager they report to, who enables them,  protects them, gives them permission to do what they want, defends them in times of trouble, and even shares a few drinks with them to celebrate; all in the name of revenue.

You can do more with less.  Addition by subtraction.  That's how the Red Sox looked at it with Manny and that's how companies should look at it when they have people like this.

Chubby, we hardly know you, and until we do, we'll use your invaluable comments and insights to crusade for functionality and sanity on sales forces around the world.

(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan 

Is there data which actually illustrates and supports what drives sales performance, hiring great salespeople, and developing salespeople?  Is it meaningful?  If the data is compelling, would you modify your views, beliefs, practices and behaviors? 

I've written a number of articles based on my research, our data from assessing 2,086,251 salespeople, statistics and/or pure science.  Some of the articles pertain to sales performance, while others are based on the hundreds of thousands of salespeople whom we have assessed.

This article series is called Sales - What the Data Tells Us.  While some of the articles simply report the research and/or data, others share either my insights about the data or provide data to support my insights.  Here are the articles:

Are Millennials Who Enter Sales Better or Worse Than the Rest of the Sales Population?

The Official 2017 List of 21 Sales Core Competencies

Are Millennials Who Enter Sales Better or Worse Than the Rest of the Sales Population?

HBR or OMG - Whose Data Really Differentiates the Top from Bottom Salespeople?

Those Who Follow Sales Best Practices Don't Necessarily Become Top Performers

What Percentage of New Salespeople Effectively Reach Decision Makers?

Surprising New Data Busts the Myths about Relationship Selling and Social Selling

New Analysis Shows the 5 Biggest Gaps Between Top and Bottom Sales Performers

I have written many articles based on the insights of our son, most when he was between the ages of 3-7.  Each article has profound lessons and they're fun to read. Readers have enjoyed these particular articles so much, and found the lessons to be so good, that I compiled this series called Salespeople are Like Children.  As you might expect, some of these articles are my all-time favorites too.

Baseball and Selling Revisited - A Powerful Analogy

Salespeople Must Use & Embrace Life's Most Embarrassing Moments

Selling Styles - How Many Styles Should Your Salespeople Have?

Sales Coaching Lessons from the Baseball Files

Gaining Sales Traction is Like Talking to Kids

The Difference Between Sales Commitment and Desire

25 or 6 to 4 and Your Sales Force

The Lion King - Watching a Movie Again Improves Sales Effectiveness

Salespeople Should be More Like Children

Dicing, Shoveling and Training Salespeople

MLB All-Star Game Unveils a Sales Prodigy

Over Achievers on the Sales Force - We Have it Wrong

Will your Salespeople Change Behaviors to Improve Their Sales Effectiveness? 

Getting Excited About Sales Metrics

How To Get Salespeople to Leave Their Comfort Zone

Prospects Are Like Children

Turning Order Takers into Salespeople

The Emerging Boy, the Lingering Toddler

Helping New Salespeople Succeed

5 Sales Management Tips from my Five Year Old 

The Impact of Unhealthy Relationships on Salespeople

If Your Salespeople Can Spell They Can Sell

Salespeople Aren't Made of Glass

How Long Does it Take a Salesperson to Get It? 

What Can a Trip to Italy Teach You About Managing Salespeople?

Salespeople are Like Children

Making it Easy for Salespeople to Succeed

Improve Sales Competencies at the Salesperson's Hall of Fame

Compelling Reasons to Buy

How to Start a Sales Call Over

Get Prospects to Make Decisions

The Importance of Practice

How Stealing 2nd Base is the Secret to Success in Sales Today

Back in May of 2007 I posted this article called Sales Force Development - Is it Training?

In two weeks, Razi Inman, CEO of Landslide, and I will be the guests on an internet talk show (webinar) where we will discuss the concept of integrated sales force development and all of the pieces that make it up. 

This webinar will be held on August 20, 2008 at 1 PM.  You can get more information and register here.

(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan

I posted this article earlier in the week before Manny Complainez was traded to the LA Dodgers. Mike Carroll posted this article earlier today.  The King of Self-Centeredness was granted his wish and sent off, leaving his teammates relieved, happy, and excited about their team's future.

When your prima dona sales reps resign, your remaining salespeople feel the same way as Manny's teammates. Let's go sell because there's nothing distracting us now.  Let's set some records because there's nobody bringing us down.  Let's make some money because there's nobody trying to hog all the attention. Let's have some fun because now this is a fun place to work.

Bye Manny.

Hello Harmony.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Red Sox climb out of the dark hole they've been in the last several weeks.

While this is an obvious issue for leadership, it's also somewhat of a recruiting issue.  It's leadership's responsibility to make the decisions to get rid of the Manny's that cause the problems that prevent everyone from producing to their potential.  It's part of a company's overall recruiting strategy to have a termination policy.  What's yours? 

(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan             

Today I'm in Dallas, speaking at ABP's reseller conference. At lunch I met a professor of computer science from the University of Texas who brought his lab students who research VOIP, to the conference to learn about the practical applications of VOIP.

I mentioned that when they attend my talk on selling that instead of trying to follow along and learn how to sell, they should recognize how difficult selling is for all of the people in attendance.  Then, they could use that understanding to support the sales force when they enter the work force  and engineer products for commercial sale.

I explained that in a typical manufacturing scenario, sales asks why engineering can't make what their customers are asking for, while engineering asks why sales can't sell what they make.  I didn't expect the reaction I got; they laughed - really, really hard - couldn't stop.

It's been an hour since lunch and while I'm posting this, they're leaving the conference.  Even in their formative years, they don't want to know what sales folks have to say.

(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan 

Our Boston Baseball team is having an acute case of Manny being Manny.  For the past seven years, when Manny felt like being Manny, it was sometimes comical, like when he recently made a great catch, high fived a fan in the middle of the play and then threw a runner out to complete a double play.  There were the two times when he entered the left-field wall to use the facilities and to talk on his cell phone.  But there have been other occasions when he wasn't so comical.  There were serious, but not career-ending moments like when he failed to run out ground balls or, during a pinch-hitting appearance, when he failed to take the bat off his shoulders. This year Manny has been the aggressor in two well documented shoving matches and there were two important games where he asked out of the lineup.  Now, for the 8th time in 8 years, he is asking out of Boston again.  It used to be that Manny being Manny was harmless fun, but when Manny has become a serious distraction to the entire team, all the home runs and RBI's in the world won't compensate for his behavior.

Most sales forces have a person - a maverick - like Manny; a top producer who marches to the beat of his own drummer.  We have a different set of rules for these producers and as long as they're not causing difficulties for anyone else we tend to tolerate what they do and don't do.  They don't attend all the meetings, aren't held to the same standards, regularly give us a load of crap and we tolerate it as long as they continue to produce.

Can you imagine Manny on your sales force?  He pushes your HR VP to the floor, slaps your hardest working salesperson, refuses to listen to your coaching, tells everyone he hates the company, doesn't attend company events or sales meetings, but comes through and brings in the business you need, just when you need it.

But when Mavericks become serious problems I usually get a phone call.  "I don't know what to do!" is the typical comment.  And it makes sense, right?  If this person didn't outperform everyone else in the company, the decision to put them on the first plane out of town would be an easy one.  Nobody would miss the antics and aggravation.  But all that revenue - the thought of losing it and the possibility of a competitor getting it - is too much for most executives to handle so they inevitably call and ask me what they should do.

I'm fairly consistent on matters like these.  As Bill Murray says when Walter Peck is being kicked out of the Mayor's office in Ghostbusters, "Bye."

Most companies do more with less.  After two basketball players are encouraged to quit the team in a disciplinary move, team members yell, "they were our top two scorers last year!" Coach Carter, in the movie by the same name, says, "then we'll have new top scorers this year!" 

If you were to interview the salespeople who are impacted by the behavior of your top producers, you would learn that they would be quite happy to see your Maverick depart.  It's not like they thought they could outsell him...and guess what will happen to their sales when they finally believe  that they can become the top producers!

Bye.

(c) 2008 Dave Kurlan 

Sometimes, I'll write an article and think it's one of the best 4-5 paragraphs I've ever written on the subject of sales excellence - and nobody will care.  Other times I'll write an article and think nobody will care - and I'll get more feedback than I can believe.

Such was the case yesterday when I wrote this article for Baseline Selling Tips.  The title was How to Use Fear to Maintain Your Edge but the real basis for the article was that you shouldn't let fear prevent you from doing what you must do; you should use fear as a way to be more prepared to achieve the best possible outcome.

Well this article caused more people to write and express their thanks than any article I've ever written and between this Blog and Baseline Selling Tips, I've published more than 400 articles on Sales and Sales Management Excellence.

Read the article first.  Now rate each of your salespeople relative to how fear impacts them.  Be brutally honest in your appraisals:

A. Fearless  
B. Use Fear to Excel
C. They Sell in Fear
D. Fear Prevents Them from Being Effective
E. Fear Causes Paralysis

Now score your results.

A: 4 points x # of salespeople.
B: 5 points x # of salespeople.
C: 2 points x # of salespeople.
D: 1 points x # of salespeople.
E: 0 point  x # of salespeople.

Now take the total score and divide by the number of salespeople.  The resulting number is your Sales Force Fear Factor.

5 - awesome! 
4 - excellent
3 - good
2 - you don't have a sales force
1 - set the date for closing your business
0 - why are you still reading this?

(c) Copyright 2008 Dave Kurlan 

Did you ever have a new salesperson fail?  Did you ever have one who was highly recommended fail?

Depending on how effective your recruiting, selection and on boarding processes are, you may experience new salespeople that don't work out.  Let's explore some of the factors that impact short-term success.

• Ramp-Up Time - an important factor in determining whether a new salesperson is succeeding or failing is your baseline ramp-up time.  When you don't know what your ramp-up time should be, you will be guilty of either not giving a salesperson enough time to succeed, or being overly patient, allowing too much time to pass before calling the newbie a failure.  My formula for calculating ramp-up time is to add your sale cycle in months to your learning curve in months and then add an additional 30 days.  So, if you have a six month sale cycle and a three month learning curve, your baseline ramp-up time will be 10 months.  Complicating the matter even more is the fact that some salespeople will not ramp up exactly as the formula suggests, based on three additional factors:
  
• Years of sales experience - fewer years = longer ramp up.
  
• Years in the industry - fewer years = longer ramp up.
• Compatibility (found on Objective Management Group's  Sales Candidate Assessment) - lower compatibility = longer ramp up.

• The Assignment - The assignment is a huge part of this equation.  If your new salesperson is assigned existing accounts, you'll probably be happy with his work unless he quickly loses some accounts.  On the other hand, if 80% or more of the assignment is hunting for new business, you may conclude that the salesperson is failing unless the pipeline gets filled rather quickly with new opportunities.
• The Assessment - Clues abound here.  As long as you are using Objective Management Group's Sales Candidate Assessment (92% of recommended candidates that are hired wind up in the top half of their sales force within a year, while 75% of those who were not recommended but hired anyway fail within 6 months), the answers are at your finger tips.  Review these four sections:
• Hunter Skill set - which attributes are missing? 
  
• Conditions for Hiring - what are the conditions listed and did you follow them?
• Likely Problems - are the issues your struggling salesperson is running into listed among the likely problems?
• Skills - how many are there and are they representative of the entire selling process or just the front end, middle or back-end?
• The Sales Manager - The sales manager is usually the biggest determining factor of sales success and the first place to look when it appears that salespeople aren't working out. 
  
• Supervision - Are new salespeople being micro managed or at least closely managed?  They should be.  Are any of your new salespeople in a remote territory?   A sure fire formula for disaster is a remote salesperson that is not being closely managed. 
  
• Expectations - Have expectations been set?  Do your new salespeople know what is expected of them in the first 30/60/90 days, how they will be measured and how they will be held accountable?
• Support - When two seemingly identical salespeople with identical assignments and territories have opposite results, it's usually because neither of them got the attention, direction, guidance, coaching, support, motivation and accountability that was needed, but one of them was better when it came to figuring out what it would take to succeed (see The Salesperson). 
  
• Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) - Sales Managers that manage results (history) are months behind when it comes to being able to impact a salesperson using coaching and accountability.  Sales Managers that manage activity (today) can see into the future and change it.
• The Salesperson - New salespeople can figure it out when the right mix of these next 14 factors, all found in OMG's Assessment, are in place - The "Figure it Out" Factor:
• 5+ years in sales
• 5+ years in the industry
• Strong Desire
  
• Strong Commitment
• No Excuse Making
• Self Starter
• Works well independently
• Works without supervision
• Will Prospect
• Prospects Consistently
• No Need for Approval
• Recovers from Rejection
• Greater than 75% Compatibility
  
• Effective Time Management
  

• High Turnover Factors - Depending upon these three additional factors, turnover could approach 150%.
• Compensation - Turnover is higher in straight comission environments.  Straight commission with a long sale cycle will be even worse.  Straight commission with a long sale cycle and a salesperson without the financial stability to stick it out will exceed 100%.
• Industry - Turnover in insurance (personal lines), telecommunications (long distance phone service) and automotive (car dealers) is very high because many companies in these industries don't have a selection criteria that extends beyond "breathing and willing" and don't invest time and money on development. 
• Mindset - Companies that are resigned to high turnover and that are making a lot of money despite the turnover don't do anything to change it.
• Psychological Factors - Every once in a while you'll get a new salesperson who is emotionally unstable and you won't know it until it's too late.  There is no better reason to use a psychological assessment at the time of hiring that to uncover this!
• Liars - I've even seen salespeople who took one base plus commission sales job while holding down another.  The only thing better than getting paid for not performing one job is getting paid for not performing in two jobs!