Mike Turner – MD youbecome Ltd
With the Olympics becoming a distant memory (very sadly) it is important to look at a really important element of successful sales businesses. Reward and celebration of success. The best sales people by nature are quite ‘needy.’ What that means is that they love to be the focus of attention and be the ‘top dog.’ This is one of the key elements of successful sales organisations. We need to look at ways of helping our people achieve the top podium in their work. How do they become the gold medallist in sales?
Someone told me that it is easy to spot faults in people because no one is perfect. It is far harder, and therefore more of a skill to ‘catch someone doing something well’ and say a heart felt ‘well done!’ So how do we praise people without sounding cheesy and over the top? This skill will be key to running an excellent sales team.
- We’ve already agreed the importance of setting clear goals and objectives and having a coaching set up that reviews and appraises performance. It goes without saying that if performance is good then recognition and praise is essential. Be specific about what you are praising and how it makes you feel.
- If appropriate, praise publicly. This makes a real difference to the scale of the recognition and will help maintain morale.
- Recognise the inputs as well as the outputs required for success. What does this mean? We all want top sales results. What are the pieces of the jigsaw that will make it happen? How many visits or demonstrations will be needed to be successful? What are the words that need to be said. What is the closing approach to move the project to a contract. A good sales person uses a great many small things to achieve one good result. When a sales person has obviously changed something for the better then we must recognise that effort. Praise the graft as much as the result.
- Remember, sales people behave the way they are paid. Therefore, work out how you want the guys to behave and then construct the right commission payments. Commissions are a science in themselves, but always remember to target good behaviour as well as good results.
That is the end of this blog series. I hope you have found it useful and feel free to contact me if you want clarification on any of the previous 10 parts. The next series will be looking in to the crucial elements of customer retention and renewals. Another critical factor in maintaining a healthy revenue for the business!