| Another key reason why companies suffer from | | | | maintain a consistent level of productivity? |
| 80/20 performance is their processes for hiring, | | | | - How strong is the individual's desire to be liked? |
| training and managing salespeople rely almost | | | | Will they be able to maintain a "win-win" focus, or |
| entirely upon subjective information. Think about it: | | | | will they give away the store? |
| - What are resumes? They are an individual's | | | | - How competitive is the individual? How confident |
| subjective portrayal of their capabilities and | | | | are they in their ability to compete successfully? |
| experiences. | | | | - How emotionally tough is the individual? How do |
| - What occurs during an interview? Interviewees | | | | they respond to rejection? |
| attempt to package their responses to questions | | | | - How dogged and determined is the individual in |
| in a manner that will make the best impression. | | | | pursuing opportunities and overcoming roadblocks |
| Meanwhile, interviewers are forming personal | | | | that arise during the sales process? |
| opinions about candidates' qualifications for the | | | | - Will the individual follow through on their |
| position. | | | | commitments? |
| I'm not suggesting that subjective information is | | | | - How success oriented and outcome focused is |
| useless. Subjective information is a valid and | | | | the individual? Are they able to stay focused on |
| valuable component of any "people decision". | | | | the desired end result, or do they let themselves |
| However, if decisions based solely upon subjective | | | | get bogged down in details along the way? |
| information produce an undesirable result 80 | | | | - Does the individual actually ENJOY the activities |
| percent of the time, doesn't it make sense to | | | | involved in selling? If they don't, chances are they |
| consider making a change? | | | | won't perform very well for very long. |
| One way to introduce objective information into | | | | Specialized sales assessment tests can also help |
| the sales recruiting process is through specialized | | | | existing salespeople that are struggling. How? First, |
| sales assessment tests. I'm not referring to | | | | they can be used to determine whether these |
| personality or behavioral tests like Myers-Briggs or | | | | individuals should be in sales. If an individual doesn't |
| DISC. Those types of tools can be useful for | | | | have the talents required for sales success, there |
| learning how to communicate more effectively | | | | may be other roles in your organization where |
| with someone. However, I have not found them | | | | their talents and interests can be applied to mutual |
| to be useful for predicting whether someone will | | | | benefit. If no such positions are available, the |
| succeed in sales. | | | | kindest thing you can do is let them go. Why? |
| The specialized sales assessment tests that I'm | | | | Because it is no fun to continue to struggle in a |
| referring to identify an individual's strength or | | | | job that is a poor fit! |
| weakness in the following areas: | | | | Second, specialized sales assessment tests can |
| - How rapidly does the individual learn new | | | | help identify each salesperson's unique training |
| information? This talent is of particular importance | | | | needs. Here is an example: |
| if your company has a broad portfolio of products | | | | Two salespeople, Beth and Bill, work for the same |
| and services and you want your salespeople to | | | | company. Beth is weak in Sales Drive, which |
| sell the entire portfolio. | | | | makes her reluctant to ask for orders. Bill is weak |
| - How precisely and effectively does the individual | | | | in Emotional Toughness, which makes him |
| communicate, both verbally and in writing? If your | | | | sensitive to rejection and limits his prospecting |
| salespeople author a lot of proposals and/or | | | | effectiveness. If Beth and Bill go through the |
| e-mails, the quality of their writing will definitely | | | | same sales skills training course, how much |
| impact their sales performance! | | | | improvement in performance should their |
| - How strong is the individual's talent for asking | | | | employer expect to see? |
| insightful questions, picking out important pieces of | | | | The answer is little or none. Why? Because Beth |
| information from the answers, and using this | | | | and Bill have completely different training needs |
| information to construct additional questions? This | | | | that will not be addressed by basic sales skills |
| talent is critical for effective sales opportunity | | | | training. |
| qualification. | | | | Beth would benefit the most from attending an |
| - How strong is the individual's talent for learning | | | | assertiveness training class. She also needs |
| how to manage effective return on investment | | | | coaching to help her recognize that failing to ask |
| (ROI) conversations with prospects and | | | | for orders denies her customers valuable solutions |
| customers? This talent is critical for increasing | | | | to costly business problems. |
| close rates by creating a context for price | | | | Bill needs to learn to not take rejection personally. |
| discussions. | | | | He could also benefit from training that teaches |
| - How energetic is the individual? How easy will it | | | | positive thinking and other motivational techniques. |
| be for them to consistently maintain the level of | | | | Unfortunately, unless Beth's and Bill's unique training |
| productive activity required to achieve their sales | | | | needs are identified, and targeted training is |
| targets? | | | | supplied to address those specific needs, there |
| - How effective is the individual at convincing | | | | isn't much reason to expect their performance to |
| prospects and customers to "get off the dime" | | | | improve. |
| and take action? | | | | Conclusion |
| - How sociable is the individual? Do they enjoy | | | | Many "80/20" sales performance differences |
| interacting with others? Do they build rapport with | | | | result from relying too heavily on subjective |
| strangers quickly? | | | | information when hiring and managing salespeople. |
| - Can the individual successfully direct his or her | | | | Adding objective information (gathered by |
| own activities, or does the individual require | | | | specialized sales assessment tests) to these |
| frequent input and direction from a sales manager | | | | "people decision" processes can dramatically |
| to stay on track? | | | | increase the proportion of top performers on |
| - How will the individual respond when things don't | | | | your sales team and improve the performance of |
| go their way? Will they start to whine and | | | | existing sales team members. |
| complain, or will they be able to "shake it off" and | | | | |