5Oct/110

Best Salespeople

Here's a short post to answer a big question:

Often, VPs of Sales, Sales Managers, and other Sales Leaders ask us to help them find the best salespeople. They tell us they're tired of being fooled by salespeople who are "all show and no go."

They just want the best.

Question is, what's "best?"

The "best" salesperson in one company (or territory, or product line, or for one manager) is not necessarily the "best" somewhere else.

Why is that? Two reasons:

  1. Almost every salesperson is a human and humans are notoriously complex creatures. Every factor you can imagine (and some you can't) have bearing on an individual contributor's success or failure.
  2. At the same time, virtually every sales job is unique and complex. Territories and customer profiles are unique. So are managers and companies.

That means that the "best" salesperson is really the one who approaches selling in a way that's most closely aligned with the customers in your unique selling environment.

So that means that a salesperson with a sincere thirst for knowledge stands a much better job of being able to align with a wide variety of customers and jobs.

However, your environment is different than ours and you should begin with a clear understanding of who will succeed in it before beginning to search.

After all, if you know what success looks like, you're a lot more likely to know where to look.

@JebBrooks

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9Sep/112

How To Find The Best Sales Job

As a professional sales trainer, one of the advantages my work offers me is the chance to see so many different sales jobs.

First, I should say that I believe any job has negatives and positives to it. However, some of us are more likely to see one or the other.

With that said, it’s impossible to say one job is THE best because we all have different strengths that compliment different jobs. The secret is finding the one that’s right for you. In other words, jobs and people are each unique. The best sales job for you is really about finding the right match.

The best way to do that is by asking yourself three, basic questions. They're the same three things we ask sales managers to consider before bringing on a candidate:

  1. How does this candidate sell?
  2. Why does this candidate sell?
  3. Can this candidate sell here?

Those are important questions to ask yourself, too. Answering them honestly will give you a picture of the kind of selling environment that will be most comfortable for you.

Here are some examples of what I mean...

How do I sell?: “I’ve got incredibly high energy, am very outgoing, and can’t stand sitting at a desk.”

Look for an outside sales job.

Why do I sell?: “Well, I sell because I like helping my customers solve complicated problems by creating complex solutions.”

Look for a sales job with a complex, multi-faceted offering.

Can I sell here?: “I need a lot of face-time with my manager, I like bouncing ideas off of him or her.”

Look for a job in sales where your manager will offer you that chance.

In general, here are some questions to ask yourself when you're seeking the best sales job for you:

  • How long is the sales cycle?
  • Is the job inside sales or outside sales?
  • How involved will my manager be?
  • How much of my time will be dedicated to account management?
  • Is this a role where I'm an independent rep? Or will I be captured?
  • How complex is this sale?
  • What type of prospecting is required? Cold calling or strategic prospecting?
  • Is this job business-to-business or business-to-consumer sales?
  • What types of customers will I be interacting with?
  • How much customer service will I have to provide?
  • How technically complicated is the offering?
  • What, if any, potential is there for advancement? Do I want that?
  • What does the compensation model look like?
  • How much flexibility will I have in negotiations?
  • What kind of territory will I have?
  • How much travel will be required? Is it in a plane or my car?
  • What does the onboarding process look like?
  • What do they do to help me succeed in the first year?
  • How long will it take for me to begin earning the amount I'd like?
  • How long will it take until I'm fully contributing?
  • What kinds of sales presentations will I make? Formal or informal?
  • How much flexibility will I have with my schedule?
  • What kind of benefits package is offered?

Again, when it comes to the “best sales job,” there really isn’t a silver bullet out there. Instead, it’s far better for you to reflect on your own skills, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses in order to understand what kind of sales job will be best for you.

@JebBrooks

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15Nov/100

86.7% of Salespeople are “Superior”

Last week, during a meeting with a client, I learned that...

86.7% of the salespeople we've helped them hire using our sales assessments are performing at a "superior" level.

Nowhere in an organization are the metrics more easily measured than in sales. There are hard-and-fast stats that make it straightforward to determine success or failure in sales. And, by this client's own measure, we have helped solve a major challenge in their organization:

How to take the guesswork out of hiring salespeople.

The most valuable time in any professional salesperson's life is spent with clients. What are you learning while you're with them?

@JebBrooks

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16Aug/102

The Most Critical Characteristic for Success in Any Endeavor

According to our research, regardless of what you do, Personal Accountability is the most critical personal skill you can exhibit.

Personal Accountability, by our definition, is...

The willingness to take responsibility for one's own actions.

A person who's able to take the blame for mistakes (and the credit for wins) is far more effective at any job than someone who's not. There are a lot of common sense reasons for this:

  • Personally accountable people are more fun to be around because they're not busy casting blame elsewhere.
  • Personally accountable people are better team-players because others trust them.
  • Personally accountable people have more experience because they try things and learn from them.
  • Personally accountable people receive more opportunity because others seek them out.
  • Personally accountable people climb the corporate ladder faster because they're not hiding.
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2Aug/100

No One is Entitled to Any Job

In this morning's Wall Street Journal, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, was asked how long he expected to keep his job after the proposed Comcast takeover. He responded by saying, "Nobody is entitled to any job."

At first I wanted to disagree with him (what about a self-employed entrepreneur?). But, you know, I think he's right.

There's a great book by Dr. Tony Alessandra, Frank Sarr, and Pamela Larsen Truax called Performance Counts And Accountability Pays! The title -- by itself -- is applicable to what Zucker was saying. He was right because, in order to keep a job, everyone must perform and be accountable for their performance.

Performance is the act or process of carrying out some task.

Accountability is taking responsibility for the results. Whatever they are.

And, with that in mind, Zucker's right on! Even a self-employed entrepreneur owes her next paycheck to superior performance for her clients. Entitlement is a dangerous threat to anyone. And it's one of the quickest ways to sure-fire failure.

Perhaps nowhere is the concept that Performance Counts and Accountability Pays more true than in sales. The secret is hiring only superior performers for your team. And the best way to do that? Assessments. Period.

@JebBrooks

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