Recently, a contractor I know had a newish salesperson who was trained and said he did all the things he was trained to do on every sales call, but he wasn’t getting great results. In my company, we ride along with salespeople to observe them and coach them.
In this case, the company gave him a (secret) appointment – at the owner’s home with his wife. He showed up in a hoodie, did not do the warm-up he was taught, said he’d email a proposal when he was trained to give one on the spot, took ten days to get the proposal out, and entered notes into the CRM about what the customer said – expect the customer never said those things.
Imagine if your salespeople were doing half of this. What impact would it have over months and years?
Make sure your people are doing the critical functions that make your company stand out and successful as you trained them to.
How do you inspect what you expect?
Ask not what your company can do for you, ask…what can I do for my company ! I had a CRAZY belief that everyone was like me and “ did the job they agreed to do for the pay they agreed on” Ha…finding this to be a bad belief!
Some people are pleasant, helpful and direct. I like when someone listens and is willing to accept my call even if I only manage to call back after the end of regular work hours. I did not expect a response but the fact that I got one made me feel lucky and in a way special.
In many cases I prefer a frank conversation but I understand why it takes a couple of tries before we can achieve one. If I go to an interview I know that I am going to be inspected but I will also do my best to inspect my inspector(s). I listen, I watch their body language, I watch how they react to the answers I provide, I observe how they interact with each other, I analyze emotions and reactions.
I do not want to hear what you think I want to hear, I want to hear and see if you can be genuine. Most people are afraid of being watched and assessed because it means that they may be deemed unfit and become rejected.
This fear in many cases stops most people to be genuine and authentic. When I am able to connect with my inspector and establish a mutual understanding I always get excited because “I” the other inspector was noticed and understood.
Sales persons need to be Service driven!!
People can pick up on the sales approach.
Preach!