How to Increase the Sales and Profitability of Your Sales Organization

A Measuring Stick to Define Your Talent

Historically, most executives who have a sales organization under their control through a VP of Sales believe that the key to increasing sales from the organization normally comes from the list below. Often, these approaches are done with little to no effect.
•    Developing their soft skills to sell
•    Adding new products or services
•    Providing additional technical training on products or services sold
•    Changing the compensation structure to provide better motivation to sell
•    Setting Sales Goals & Profit Objectives

When one of the above approaches is deployed, it is often a puzzle to management why sales and profits hardly improved, if at all. You thought these were great to increase sales right? 
The core sales problem may not have been properly addressed and the real issue may be that the salespeople may have not been the best choice due to lack of aptitudes and behaviors needed for success in sales. Further, the sales trainer/manager, who believes that he or she can teach anyone to be highly successful in sales, may be proven to be seriously mistaken.

Executives, managers, HR people, and recruiters think they have the skills, knowledge, and ability to identify the traits in a sales candidate.  In reality, there are certain critical mental aptitudes and behavioral traits which simply aren’t accurately identifiable and measurable from an application, resume, or interview.
To make matters worse, many hiring decision makers take prior sales experience often times far too seriously. Experience could mean the sales candidate as moving up or forward with more responsibility, when in fact the employer(s) concluding this particular salesperson was never going to make it with them. Thus, prior experience must be more thoroughly investigated than most interviewers are prepared to explore.

Consider the importance of the following critical sales aptitudes and behavioral traits as a requirement for successful sales people vs. prior experience including which ones can be accurately measured in an application, resume, or interview and which ones cannot.

The following are critical sales oriented traits:

The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How To Recognize The Subtle Signs and Act Before It’s Too Late,

The following information is taken from the book, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How To Recognize The Subtle Signs and Act Before It’s Too Late, by Leigh Branham, 2005, AMACOM publishers.

The Saratoga Institute conducted a survey and it revealed that 89% of managers believe employees leave for more money. But, in fact, the survey found that 88% of employees leave for reasons other than money. What a disconnect!

Maybe it is easier for managers to think that money is the real issue, rather than hear that there are things that need to be fixed. But, the truth is, there are things that can be done to keep employees happy and productive, and on the job.

The 10 most frequently mentioned issues that employees say companies do poorly are:

• Poor management—uncaring and unprofessional managers; overworking staff; no respect, not listening, putting people in wrong jobs; speed over quality; poor manager selection processes.
• Lack of career growth and advancement opportunities—no perceivable career paths; not posting job openings or filling from within; favoritism or unfair promotions.
• Poor communications—problems communicating top-down and between departments; after mergers; between facilities.
• Pay—paid under-market or less than contributions warrant; pay inequities; slow raises; favoritism for bonuses/raises; ineffective appraisals.
• Lack of recognition—that says it all.
• Poor senior leadership—not listening, asking, or investing in employees; unresponsiveness and isolation; mixed messages.
• Lack of training—nonexistent or superficial training; nothing for new hires, managers, or to move up.
• Excessive workload—doing more with less; sacrificing quality and customer service for numbers.
• Lack of tools and resources—insufficient, malfunctioning, outdated, equipment/supplies; overwork without relief.
• Lack of teamwork—poor coworker cooperation/commitment; lack of interdepartmental coordination.

If you see that these are problems in your workplace, actively work to get them corrected through work team initiatives, discussions with your manager, or sharing corporate models where things are done right. Sometimes it is easier to fix the problem then move on and start anew.

This article was originally found here

______________________________________

The Making of an Effective Manager is the only program todetermine ROI upfront with guaranteed results. Our unique adult learning process allows participants to put learned content into practice immediately. You and your managers will see a higher employee satisfaction during and continually after training. Click Here to Learn More or call 609-390-2830

4 of 33 Tips for Productivity on the Job

1. Nuke it! The most efficient way to get through a task is to delete it. If it doesn’t need to be done, get it off your to do list.
2. Daily goals. Without a clear focus, it’s too easy to succumb to distractions. Set targets for each day in advance. Decide what you’ll do; then do it.
3. Worst first. To defeat procrastination learn to tackle your most unpleasant task first thing in the morning instead of delaying it until later in the day. This small victory will set the tone for a very productive day.
4. Peak times. Identify your peak cycles of productivity, and schedule your most important tasks for those times. Work on minor tasks during your non-peak times.