| As the leader of your organization, the next 6 | | | | are made up of a bunch of service people or |
| months will prove to be more pressure-filled then | | | | farmers. The challenge in difficult times are that |
| you may have experienced in years. With | | | | new customers are risk averse to trying new |
| decreasing prospects and the cost of doing | | | | suppliers and that the cost of getting new |
| business increasing, a squeeze on profits is | | | | business may come at the expense of |
| inevitable. | | | | profitability. The most economical way to grow |
| Companies will look to cut costs and the first | | | | your business is through existing customers. Train |
| place to start is the sales force. The sales force is | | | | your farmers to cultivate more business with |
| your company's most expensive promotional | | | | their existing customers. Programs targeted at |
| resource. You will have to make some critical | | | | growing and expand business opportunities can |
| decisions: Do you cut costs or improve the | | | | help stimulate sales people who have become |
| performance of your existing sales team? | | | | complacent and find it challenging to go out and |
| Cut back, down size and cut costs: | | | | get new business. |
| I don't need to give you advice on cutting back. | | | | 3) Maximize the ROI on your training budget |
| It's easy to cut back on sales people, promotion | | | | Maximizing your ROI on training really means |
| and training. While radical surgery may be | | | | ensuring that what ever training you do creates |
| financially prudent in the short term it becomes a | | | | sustainable changes in behaviors that impact on |
| self-fulfilling prophecy: first sales decline, then | | | | business performance. |
| performance suffers and finally moral drops, | | | | The challenges relate to a lack of accountability |
| completing the downward cycle. | | | | and follow up. Are there systems in place to |
| How can you improve the productivity and | | | | measure newly learned behaviors or follow up |
| performance of your sales force? | | | | programs to sustain lessons learned? The answer |
| I believe that too many sales organizations | | | | is no. Studies show that 90% of training is |
| operate well below their potential. Quick fixes | | | | forgotten in the first 30 days unless reinforced. |
| abound during these times, but the secret to | | | | Are you one of the many companies investing in |
| surviving difficult economic times is simple... | | | | T&D and little or no ROI? |
| Unlock the potential in your sales organization and | | | | Unless there is a plan that measures and |
| watch that potential turn into sustainable | | | | reinforces changes in behaviors you are wasting |
| performance! | | | | your money! You must ensure that there is a plan |
| 1) Invest in your front line sales managers | | | | to reinforce learning's and you hold individuals |
| Who else is at the heart of change, productivity, | | | | accountable for demonstrating newly learned |
| accountability and performance in your | | | | behaviors. |
| organization? The front line sales manager is the | | | | Maximize your investment in training and |
| key to unlocking the potential in your sales | | | | development with a program that measures and |
| organization and turns that potential into | | | | reinforces the learning's and they will become |
| performance. Your success depends on these | | | | business practice. |
| managers. | | | | 4) Strategically invest your resources |
| Coaching is the single most impactful activity that | | | | As you look how to manage your resources |
| front lines sales managers perform. Studies show | | | | more effectively, the key is to strategically target |
| that effectual coaching can impact sales | | | | your promotional dollars to maximize the ROI. |
| performance by as much as 19%! Great front line | | | | Each sales person needs to be much more |
| sales managers do a far better job hiring, | | | | strategic on where they allocate their limited |
| developing and retaining top performing sales | | | | resources. This involves building customer specific |
| people. | | | | plans based on factors such as existing business |
| If you had $1 dollar to invest in your business the | | | | and potential business and holding sales people |
| first dollar and best dollar would be invested in | | | | accountable to executing their plans. |
| your front line sales management team. | | | | Strategically investing your promotional dollars on |
| 2) Turn your farmers into hunters by focusing on | | | | the right customers and holding sales people |
| unlocking the potential within existing customers | | | | accountable will be one of the keys to unlocking |
| Many of my clients tell me that their sales team | | | | your star results! |