Inspiring Your Sales Force to Success

Inspiring Your Sales Force to Success
byPatricia Gardner

Newideas for sales success can be a blessing whether your sales people areexceeding their sales goals or if they are mired in a slump. Consider the suggestions that follow a way to add an extra 5percent to the top line, or a way to a more efficient, productive way of doingthings.

The most efficient strategy for getting a sales team, or anindividual, to move up to the next level is through the code-breaker approach.Toget into Fortune 100 companies, sales people have to team up with influentialpeoplecode-breakerswho would introduce them to their clients in exchangefor the same. If a sales team develops the code-breaker approach, there is noreason those individuals cant routinely close million-dollar deals in twosales calls.

The trick for experienced sales teams has always been how toget into the CEOs office at a major corporation so they can make theirpitch.The team knows what to do when they get there; they just cant get inthe door. Code-breakers unlock the door and welcome them into a world ofmulti-million-dollar deals and fruitful partnerships.

Code-breakers make sales teams more productive, more effectiveand increase revenue. In turn, sales people have more time and less stress, abenefit to everyone. The two distinguishing elements of the code-breakerapproach are preparation and teamwork. First, understand preparation time iscrucial. Too often, sales reps arent given enoughoranytime to research new accounts or even their own product lines, whichresults in flawed presentations and wasted chances. When hiring a new rep ortransferring someone to a new product or vertical market, build in a coupleweeks of pure learning time. If youre selling a tangible item, encourage the rep to putthe product through its paces and talk to members of the design and servicestaffs. Consulting or service organizations should attempt to arrangeinterviews with satisfied clients, who can provide an unvarnished view of whatthe company was able to accomplish.

Next, be results-oriented, notprocess-oriented. After the rep has learned the ropes and is out selling,recognize certain clients and projects may require additional prep time. Thecode-breaker approach is not about initiating contact. Its not aboutinitiating contact with a certain number of prospects every week, but aboutgoing after the contacts most likely to result in big new business. This mayupset the established order in your shop, but its worth the effort. Insteadof saying, How many sales did you get today? ask How many codebreakersdid you meet today?

Emphasizing teamwork is a critical component ofthis process.Developing a teamwork ethic may be a little harder, especially ifcompetition has been the main motivator for a sales staff. Lower the barriersbetween sales and other departments. Engineers may not be salespeople, but someof them may be able to sell a certain aspect of your product better than a teamof the slickest reps. Encourage their supervisors to let them come along toclient meetings when the stakes are high. Give senior people responsibility forjunior reps; make a portion of their bonuses dependent on proving theyvehelped open a certain number of doors.

Finally, make a formal compensationplan for code-breakers both inside and outside yourcompany. Code-breakers can open the doors to literally millions of dollars ofbusiness, so reward them not only with reciprocal business opportunities, butwith financial incentives as well. Isnt a milliondollar deal worth a $5,000or $10,000 finders fee? It may not be the way things have been done in thepast, but it just makes good business sense.

The code-breaker approach is designed to simplify sales foreveryone involved, but its not for rookies. If you have a team thats up tothe task and is looking for a challenge, these tips can help provide incentiveto realize tremendous success. Dont depend on sales mantras or techniques;use proven strategies that bring results. Concentrate on preparing your team andbuilding their interdependence and the rewards could be priceless.

Patricia Gardner has closed million-dollar sales deals in twosales calls, and has trained others to do it, in a career that spans 30 years.She is now president of Maximum Sales, an executive management and salestraining consulting firm, and is the author of TheMillion Dollar Sale, designed to help salesprofessionals unlock the five secrets of strategic sales. For more information,visit www.maximumsales.com.