30Nov/107

Code of Ethics for Sales Professionals

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak to a group of Wartburg College students about Professional Selling. Since we’re in the business of elevating the sales profession, I jumped at the opportunity.

During the presentation, one of the students – Nathan Welsch – asked about the ethical dilemmas that arise during the course of selling.

Nathan’s question got me thinking about the ethics for the sales profession.

Sales professionals are in a unique position to influence the decisions of the people they meet. This skill, which sales trainers like those here at The Brooks Group help hone, can be used for good or bad. There’s no question that the persuasive abilities of great salespeople can become manipulative. And that’s not good.

Code of Sales Ethics

Other professions have developed "protections."

By way of example:

> Doctors have the Hippocratic Oath.
> Lawyers have the Model Rules of Professional Conduct.
> Accountants have their Code of Ethics, too.

It’s about time to develop a Code of Sales Ethics.

Here’s my first stab (of course I'm not saying that this blog post can compete with the Hippocratic Oath, but at least it's a start)...

  1. I will always work for the best interests of my prospects and customers.
  2. I will always fulfill my obligations to my prospects, clients, and company.
  3. I will remain loyal to prospects and clients and never use what I learn from them to advantage their competitors.
  4. I will respect my profession, my product (or service), and my company.
  5. I will always perform my duties in a professional manner.

What’s missing?

Let’s get it built and then...let's implement it.

@JebBrooks

Tagged as: , 7 Comments
26Nov/100

Top Sales Awards

Top Sales AwardsMany professions have awards and designations that their members seek. I'm pleased to say that sales professionals have somewhere to turn now. It's the Top Sales Awards.

And, I'd like to encourage you to head over to the site and VOTE! You can select favorites in ten categories:

> Top Sales Personality
> Top Sales Book
> Top Sales Article
> Top Sales Star
> Top Sales Blog
> Top Sales Resource
> Top Sales 2.0 Solution
> Top Sales Tool
> Top Social Media Site
> Top CRM Solution

And, finally, the first class to enter the Top Sales Hall of Fame will also be announced. These "Sales Legends" will be revealed during the ceremony, which will take place online on December 16th!

So, head on over and VOTE!

 

 

@JebBrooks

Tagged as: , No Comments
23Nov/104

Sales Coaching

A lot of bloggers that I really respect (chiefly Paul McCord and Dave Brock) have been talking this week about sales coaching and I'd like to weigh in because of The Brooks Group's unique view on the topic. Instead of one-on-one coaching, we often turn to a group environment to drive results. We do it because of the way peer pressure can drive improvements for competitive people (like sales professionals!) And it also means more time-in-the-field, which is critical to sales-driven companies.

First, we think that coaching is the art of helping a salesperson improve upon behaviors that drive results. It’s not about personality (that’s not too changeable) it’s not about tactics (that’s just knowledge). Instead, good coaching is about adjusting behavior. It's about closing the gap between knowing and doing. In other words, turning "knowing what to do" into "doing what I know."

Everything we do at The Brooks Group has to help us achieve our mission, which is to "help organizations forge sales cultures through sustainable behavioral change."

With that in mind, we've created a one-of-a-kind group coaching process (with a robust, but simple-to-use web 2.0 driven platform) that allows salespeople in our client organizations to engage in friendly competition that truly changes behavior.

It's group coaching and here’s how it works:

Tagged as: , Continue reading
16Nov/100

How to Have a Successful New Product Launch

Recently, I participated in a study of how organizations are effectively using technology-enabled training. The results got me thinking about new product launches because, interestingly enough, it turns out that a lot of companies use technology to train their salespeople on new products. Of course, that makes a lot of sense. However, there's more to a new product launch than teaching salespeople about features and benefits.

In short: It’s a lot easier for a new product launch to go poorly than it is to meet with success.

The simplest way to find success is to begin the entire process with a straightforward question in mind:

How will this be sold on the street?

Companies sometimes become distracted by the exciting whizbang features or by creating a "hot" marketing campaign. And, too often that comes at the expense of...

Tagged as: , , Continue reading
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

Tagged as: , , No Comments
   Older Entries »


  • Sales Evolution is a B2B Sales Blog for curious people. We talk about things like sales training, sales management, sales assessments, sales leadership, prospecting, and sales relationship building. I’m Jeb Brooks and I’ll be your host. So, please sit back, relax, and join us!

  • Join the Sales Community
  •  

Free Sales Training Tips



I am a: