A company's executive team can have a positive or negative influence on the performance of the sales team.  Each member of your executive team can impact sales in some small, or not so small way.  Today, I want to talk about Chief Technology Officers, VP's and Directors of IT.  At first glance, you might not think that IT has much of an impact on sales and you would be correct.  However, they do have a significant role.

Let's take a stutter step and use Application Engineers as an example.  When AE's are introduced into the sales process, many of them want to take over.  After all, they are the experts, right?  A best case scenario for using an AE is for them to speak when asked to speak, address only those questions asked, make sure that the customer sees that the fit and function will exceed expectations, and return to silence.  It's not so much that we need to teach AE's how to sell, as much as we want to teach them what their role is in the sales process and how to stay out of the way, until their expertise is required.   

Back to the Senior IT leaders.  When companies are considering and selecting CRM applications, the choice needs to be made by the people who will be reviewing the data on the dashboard, reviewing the reports and holding salespeople accountable for using the application.  Consider the following:

• The application is hosted in the cloud - not on the client's server or the employee's desktop.
• The information in the CRM is typically not sensitive company information.
• In most companies, the CRM application can stand on its own and does not tie into other systems.
• CRM applications are prolific and, if choosing carefully, out of the box capability is good.  IT does not need to design and program a proprietary system.
• Most issues with CRM revolve around customization and user friendliness - not compatibility - and again, when you choose the right CRM, neither of those should be issues.

So why is IT getting in the way when it comes to CRM?  The following are some of the explanations I have heard:

• "My CTO doesn't like this application."
• "IT doesn't have time to support a move to a new CRM right now."
• "The IT Director is concerned about security."
• "IT believes this will require too much support on their end."

In most cases, IT shouldn't even be involved in the selection of today's CRM applications because they are hosted in the cloud and require no local IT support.  In this case, the way that IT should support Sales is by staying out of the way, like an application engineer in the sales process.  Let Sales choose the application.  Why would anyone care which application IT likes?  They're not going to use it, review it, coach from it, hold anyone accountable to it, train anyone to use it or customize it.  They might not have to do anything except maintain a list of users and passwords.

They should go back to running the IT department.  Keep the servers running.  Keep the users happy.  Keep the software updated.  Make sure there is enough storage space.  Prevent viruses from disrupting work flow.  Help users with usability issues.  But please don't try to select CRM for us, OK?

Better yet, let an outside sales expert, who knows your company and has familiarity with all of the CRM applications on the market, recommend an application for you.  When you look at CRM's, you can watch their demos, live and recorded.  "Look at everything it does - wow!"  But the demos do a great job of hiding customization requirements, functionality issues and usability challenges.

The 4 biggest questions should be:

1. How much money will you have to spend to get it to do what you need it to do?
2. How difficult will it be to get your salespeople to embrace it and live inside it?
3. What will it take to get your sales process, timelines, milestones and labels integrated?
4. How long will it take to get the dashboard to report what you want reported?

In most cases, the people who know the answers to these questions and can be truthful about them, are the sales experts from outside your company.  Not your IT people, and certainly not the developers of the CRM applications.  And it's not your job to become an expert on all of these applications - that would take up dozens of hours of your valuable coaching time.

Get IT out of the way - it's not their problem or responsibility.

Get a sales expert in there - we'll know what to recommend.

And for crying out loud - stop attempting to protect the investment you made in a CRM application that was a mistake!  It cost a fortune, has features you aren't using, is so complicated that you can't get your salespeople to use it, and costs another fortune every time you want to tweak it.  Cut your losses and just move to an application that will work out of the box!  

Chris Mott wrote about the role of the CFO in driving sales and Dennis Connelly wrote about the HR Director's challenge in supporting sales.

Register for Leading the Ideal Sales Force Part 2, on March 12 at 11 AM ET.  (Here is a link to the recording of Leading the Ideal Sales Force Part 1 in case you were unable to attend. 

WEBINAR SERIES - Baseline Selling Open Enrollment

Objective Management Group just completed it's annual international conference for Partners.  Normally, I wouldn't write about it, but this event was different.  Not most of it, but one magical hour of it.

We have had great, world-reknowned keynote speakers in past years like, Guy Kawasaki, Dan Millman, Robert Kriegel, and Verne Harnish.  They've been thoughtful, entertaining, insightful and helpful.  But this year, we were fortunate to get John Robinson to speak.  Who?  Never heard of him?  Let me take a moment to introduce you to John.  First, please watch this 26-second video on YouTube.

John is a very likable, intelligent, entertaining, engaging, motivated, savvy, resourceful, determined, resilient and successful 42-year-old.  John is just like you and me in every way and exactly like what you want all of your salespeople to be.  As a matter of fact, he was a successful General Sales Manager at a television station in upstate NY.  He is just like us in every way except one.  He was born without full arms and legs - a congenital amputee - and has faced more resistance and obstacles than we could ever know.

Sure, you can get the obvious message that, "If he can do it, you can do it."  It goes much deeper than that.  You can even get the message, "After seeing John Robinson, what possible excuse could you possibly have for not succeeding?"  His actual message is, "Get Off of Your Knees."

But when it comes to sales success, I took away an even deeper message.

He said, "Every obstacle is an opportunity."  

The difference between John and everyone else is that he doesn't merely say an obstacle is an opportunity; he believes that they are opportunities and as a result, behaves as if they are opportunities.  Whether you think in terms of strategy or tactics, consider how an approach changes depending on whether you believe the target or subject is an obstacle or an opportunity.  For which would you rather plan?

If you simply eliminate the concept of obstacles, and approach all situations as opportunities, your entire world changes, doesn't it?

That is the real magic that John Robinson can manifest!  Thank you, John.

Yesterday, I began a discussion about sales longevity or, if you prefer, turnover.  What are the factors that lead to turnover and how much of that can be predicted?  Start with yesterday's article on How Long Will a Salesperson Stick?

Get ready for a discussion that is backed by data - more Science of Sales Force Management stuff!  Speaking of science, my guest on this week's episode of Meet the Sales Experts, Lee Levitt, had a lot to say about Pipeline Coverage and Shape, metrics and 5 powerful tips for Sales Force Effectiveness.  Click here to listen to the show.

Salesperson Longevity - What Did We Find?

I mined the data and it wasn't easy!  Some of the factors I expected to see just didn't materialize. For example, I assumed that money motivation would make a difference.  Wrong.  Not even a tiny difference. A money motivated salesperson is not even 1% more likely to stick than one who isn't motivated by money.  I assumed that salespeople who were paid mostly on salary might tend to stick around longer than their colleagues who were paid mostly by commission.  Wrong.  I thought that there was a chance that stronger salespeople stuck around longer than weaker salespeople.  Wrong again.

So what did I learn?  Here are the Top Five Factors to Predict Sales Turnover / Longevity

The most important factor in predicting sales longevity is --- EXPERIENCE!  Salespeople with at least 5 years of sales experience are far more likely to stick than those without 5 years of experience.

Factor #2 has little to do with the salesperson but everything to do with Sales Longevity.  It's how closely sales management will manage the salesperson.  Salespeople who were not closely managed simply didn't stick around as long.  I had to draw a conclusion relative to whether the turnover was voluntary or involuntary. I concluded that salespeople who were more or less ignored and also under performing likely reached a point where the company gave up and terminated them. I also concluded that salespeople who performed but were ignored probably left on their own.  But whether or not you agree with my conclusions, don't miss the bigger point.  Closely managing your salespeople leads to sales longevity in your company.

Factor #3 is the compensation plan.  Salespeople who are compensated mostly by commission are more likely to stick than salespeople who are compensated mostly by salary.  Why? Salaried salespeople and those with limited bonus opportunities, reach a point where they need more money.  Does this contradict the money motivation finding?  No.  This is need versus want.  They'll leave when they need more money.  Money motivated salespeople simply want more money and sell more to earn it.

Factor #4 is a reverse factor finding.  Huh?  Objective Management Group (OMG) has a powerful finding called the Figure it Out Factor or FIOF.  It's a score that accurately predicts how quickly a new salesperson will ramp up in their new positions.  A score of greater than 75 identifies candidates in this group.  Well, these same salespeople, the ones who will ramp up more quickly, are LESS likely to stick!  Yes, they'll have an immediate impact, but they will tend to not have sales longevity in your company.  Salespeople with low FIOF scores are the ones who are most likely to stick.  Slow starters, big finishers!

Factor #5 is another reverse factor finding.  OMG has another score called Sales Quotient (SQ) which allows companies to rank their hirable candidates. Strong salespeople have SQ's over 135 and the elite have scores over 145.  But these real strong salespeople - A Players - aren't the ones who are most likely to stick.  Rather, salespeople with SQ's between 110 and 130 - B Players - have the greatest sales longevity.

Summary:The good news is that there are five specific factors that allow us to predict sales longevity.  The bad news is that these factors are inconsistent with the factors that allow us to identify and predict who the top performers will be.  So it raises a new question.  Should you be striving to hire A Players - those with high Sales Quotient and Ramp up Scores or should you be hiring for Sales Longevity - B Players who will stick around longer?

Verne Harnish, the Growth Guy, and I had this very discussion  over email this morning.  He said, "small companies can do both".  He said that "entrepreneurial firms should go after experience - we don't have time to ramp up someone - let the big companies train!" He also said that "companies should go for A players with more than 5 years of experience", something that  both Neil Rackham (SPIN Selling and Rethinking the Sales Force) and Brad and Geoff Smart, (Topgrading) have been saying right along.  However, our data shows that only 16% of the A players with experience stick for more than two years. And that brings us back to the original question. 

What do you think - A's or Longevity?  Should the answer be a direct relation to the length of your sales cycle?  Should you go for longevity when you have a long sales cycle and for A's when you have a short sales cycle? We're interested in what you have to say!

Do you subscribe to Verne's Insights - 10 Minutes with the Growth Guy - Verne Harnish?  You should.  It's the best newsletter I get - one I actually read each week!  In today's issue Verne wrote that his favorite quote from last week's Sales & Marketing Summit was Mark Burton's, "Discounting is the crack cocaine for business today".  He also shared that "instead, Burton says companies can use a 'good, better, best' strategy to provide various pricing levels without simply giving away margin."

Wait a minute!!!

Let's differentiate between this very sound pricing strategy yet unsound selling strategy.  From a pricing perspective, this strategy allows you to effectively position your company, brand, products and services wherever you need them to be, based on markets, competition, reputation, quality and business strategy.

However, from a selling perspective, never provide your prospect with even two, let alone three options.  It's difficult enough to close business in a timely manner today and you certainly don't want to be the cause of a decision making delay.  

Let's assume that your salespeople have identified the compelling reasons why their prospect would buy, and buy from you, rather than your competition.  Let's assume they have also positioned themselves as experts, established value, and learned how much their prospect will spend to solve their problem.  It is only then that your salespeople will present both a needs and cost appropriate solution.  If they have effectively met each of the above criteria, then in their expert opinion, there can only be a single ideal solution that is both needs and cost appropriate.  More than one and they didn't listen effectively.  More than one and they may appear uncertain.  More than one and they have provided their prospect a reason to think it over.  Less isn't more, one is more.

Price with options, sell with certainty.

(c) Copyright 2009 Dave Kurlan