Choosing a Sales Training Program - Finding the Right Training Program For Your Sales Trainees

In the competitive marketplace that we live in today, differentiation many times comes simply from the quality of salespeople on the street. How effectively they present themselves, build value, drive the sales process and meet and exceed their customer expectations can be the difference between getting a sale and failing. Training should be a vital part of your Sales Management philosophy. However, I find that there are misconceptions about what sales training can and cannot do. Many Sales Managers believe that sales training is the answer to their problems - train my salespeople and they should sell better. I understand that logic considering the investment many make in these programs - facilities, trainers, materials, lost sales opportunities while salespeople are in the program, travel expenses, etc. These costs can surely add up. The expectation that there will be an immediate ROI can leave some weary of making such an investment.

Here are several ideas to keep in mind as you consider investing in a sales training program.

Personalization - Generic training is not as effective as personalized training. The salesperson must understand how they perceive and engage the consultative sales process. Their "uniqueness" as a salesperson must be infused into the sales training in order to make it real to them. If your salespeople have to make a mental leap in attempting to connect with the material, then there's a good chance they won't learn it or apply it at all. That's too costly for you as a Sales Manager and your company. Find out if the program provides in-depth, personalized assessment tools that provide personal feedback about the salesperson inside of the sales process. Also, find out if they can customize the course material to your specific industry, company, language and culture. This will connect the salesperson to the training material and help them understand their strengths and areas of development much better.

Reinforcement - If the training is not reinforced, the learning is lost. Be sure the program you select has sufficient tools and resources to keep the content of the sales process in front of your salespeople consistently over a long period of time. The training concepts must be transferred from the salespersons short-term memory into their long-term memory. The internet, along with a variety of digital learning tools, makes reinforcement much easier today. Check out the reinforcement tools built into the program - if they're lacking, or flat out don't exist, move on.

Coach Salespeople After the Training - After the training program ends, the real work begins. As a Sales Manager, you're also a "coach". Part of your responsibility is phone or field observation. Are your salespeople applying the knowledge learned during the sales training program? Are they using it correctly? What do they do well? What do they need to improve? What action steps will you take to help them? Keep in mind that a good training program will not attempt to turn you, the Sales Manger, into a sales trainer. That's not really your job. However, you should make it a part of your weekly objectives to observe and "course correct" each of your salespeople in alignment with your new sales methodology.

Hold Salespeople Accountable for the Training - Finally, a good sales training program should offer you the tools for accountability. What if your salespeople don't learn the material? What happens if they don't apply it? How should you respond? Likewise, what rewards should your salespeople expect for going through a training curriculum that requires more time and energy from them? Testing and measurement are excellent ways to determine if what was taught was retained. Observation enables you to actually see their learning in action. In either case, formal accountability plays a vital part in your Sales Manager role.

There are many other factors to consider when assessing a sales training company to train your salespeople. Consider the costs and the realistic expectations you have associated with the training. Determine what will work best for you and make the investment. Remember, regular sales training and daily sales coaching should be part of your competitive strategy to help your company grow. I hope these ideas help you make that happen.

Barrett Riddleberger is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of sales assessments, customized sales training, sales recruitment and sales consulting. He also is founder of Resolution Systems Inc., a strategic sales consulting firm. His book, "Blueprint of a Sales Champion," details how organizations can find, train and retain top performing salespeople... even in a highly competitive market. An accomplished author and sales consultant, Riddleberger is also highly in demand as a business development and motivational speaker for organizations seeking to drive their sales force to greater levels of performance. For more info visit ResolutionSystemsInc.com or call 866.350.4457.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

3 Things You Can Do Right Now to Get Sales Firing Again - Activities For Sales Managers & Leaders

There is no question that in these economically uncertain times, sales leaders will need to get a whole lot smarter and more shrewd if they are going to keep their existing customers and they are going to need to be a whole lot more crafty if they are to win the slim pickings that are still out there to be had! That being said there are some fundamental sales management strategies that when implemented are guaranteed to generate sales within the next 90 days.

Strategy #1

Your first strategy will seem so simple and so easy that you are bound to say to yourself; "Is that all there is to it?" Please do not be fooled. Whilst the strategy below may seem simple, when done exactly as I have described below, it delivers some amazing results. So don't question, just do! It has been proven that, when effectively applied, the practice of regular one-on-one Sales Performance Coaching is the fastest and most effective vehicle to drive your sales growth. One-on-one Sales Performance Coaching is a powerful, time-tested, behaviour-changing, sales acceleration strategy and is the foundation on which permanent and consistent growth in your business is built. Whilst there are many different processes and skills to be an effective Sales Performance Coach, there are 2 activities that you can apply that would have an immediate impact to your sales drive.

Sit down with each of your salespeople either in person or by phone, ABSOLUTELY NO LESS THAN ONCE A FORTNIGHT. Depending on the state of your sales pipeline, you may need to ramp that up to once a week. Here's exactly all you need to do...

1. IN DEPTH review the week/ fortnight just past. When you are done...

2. IN DEPTH plan the week/ fortnight coming up.

That's it, that's all, that's the lot!

What does IN DEPTH MEAN?

IN DEPTH means just that. As an example, when prospecting for new business opportunities either with existing customers or new prospects, your salespeople must complete some primary due diligence and be able to answer some or all of the following questions before even fronting up or making the sales call. By having answers to the questions below will afford them the best opportunity for success. Your job in coaching them IN DEPTH is to ensure that before they invest their time and your money going to see a prospect, they are extremely well prepared. Imagine if you asked your salespeople some or all of the questions below before a business development call.

"So you are going to see Bob at ABC...."

1. What have you learned about ABC?

2. Who are all the "players"?

3. What does your research tell you about the critical issues that ABC is facing right now?

4. What is the evidence that they are facing these issues?

5. What do you believe the potential impacts of those issues to be? What evidence do you have that they are dealing with this issue?

6. What are their current constraints in solving that issue (in relation to time, people money)?

7. What is our answer for solving the issue?

8. What are the current market trends in their area?

9. What do we know about other companies that operate in the same space as they do?

10. What are ABC's key strategic initiatives?

11. What would their decision constraint criterion be in relation to time, people money?

12. How may we be in a position to help them?

13. What questions do you have prepared to elicit needs?

14. How do you plan on positioning the company and what it is we do?

15. What information should you bring back from your visit, to move this opportunity to the next stage of the sales pathway?

16. What is the objective of the sales call?

That is what I mean by IN DEPTH! Can you imagine just how much better prepared your sales people would be to take advantage of the opportunities out there with this kind of IN DEPTH probing?

Strategy # 2

Look for sales closest to the "bulls-eye!"

Imagine standing front on and facing the circles of a target. Imagine the "bulls-eye!" in the middle is where the money is. The circle just out side the bulls-eye represents your existing customers, let call them A's. They are the ones closest to the money. The next circle represents those customers that have bought from you occasionally, let call them B's. The circle just beyond the B's are your C's and they represent those prospective companies you have targeted but have yet to buy from you. Then outside of your C's we have the D's. These are prospects we have yet to consider.

Once again, as simple as this practice may seem, it is often neglected. When we need more sales, where do we go looking? Out there in D, E, F, and G land. Start looking for business closest to where the money is. Your sales opportunity is to expand your influence within your A and B customer's organizations and earn a higher percentage of their business. According to the 2008 CSO Insights Sales Performance Optimization Report only 33.6% of C.S.O's interviewed were able to farm additional revenues from their existing customer base, and that was last year during a comparatively good market!

Your role as sales manager is to help your salespeople identify where you have previously left money on the table. What are the opportunities with your A, B and C companies? Go work there! Let your Marketing department figure out how to bring the D, E, F, and G prospects in to where the C's, B's and A's reside. If your salespeople can't answer the questions in Strategy 1 with your A's B's and C customers, you have work to do. Have your people renew old relationships. Have them beat the bushes for new opportunities you have yet to capture with your A's, B's and C customers. They live closest to where the money lives. Go get em'!

Strategy # 3

Go to work and re-engineer your current sales process, if you have one. If you don't then get one! The latest research from the CSO Insights' 2008 Sales Performance Optimization Report shows that 'process-centric' sales teams outperform non-process-centric teams for every measurable metric.

Sales team performance and effectiveness has been shown to increase by as much as 40% when sales teams have a clear, proven sales process visible to them. The chances are extremely good that if you currently have 5 salespeople on your team, you most likely have 5 different sales processes going on all at once! What other part of your business runs on multiple different processes? Imagine running your business with half a dozen different accounting processes, or multiple IT or customer service processes? Sounds silly doesn't it? Yet sales teams do so all the time.

Whilst you can reengineer your current selling process, the exercise is not for the faint-hearted. It may be advisable that you bring in professional expertise to ensure the greatest success. You may just be too close to your own current sales methodology to see the gaps or dysfunction.

So there you have it 3 practical ideas you can implement right now to get sales firing again. At the very least run strategy #1 for 90 days. If you will do that, sales will start to flow again.

As one of Australia's leading authorities and coaches in sales management, Ian Segail has been involved in the coaching, training and development of sales managers and salespeople for over two decades.

Drawing on 25 years of experience in sales, sales management and leading an HR and training team, Ian brings a strong dose of fiscal reality and practicality to his works as a Sales Performance Coach.

Engaging directly with business owners and both novice and experienced sales managers alike, across a wide variety of industries and selling disciplines, the focus of Ian's work is to transform sales results for companies by improving sales management practices.

Ian is the author of "Bulletproof Your Sales Team The 5 Keys To Turbo Boosting Your Sales Team's Results" and a number of business articles, business reports and white papers including "The fish stinks from the head!" and "Why Sales Training Doesn't Work."

Ian has an insatiable hunger for studying selling and people management and has passionately pursued answers to the question "How come some people can sell and most can't?" He can be reached via http://www.iansegail.com

Read Ian's latest free report - "The 7 Most Costly Mistakes Sales Managers Make" here http://www.bulletproofyoursalesteam.com [http://bulletproofyoursalesteam.com/free-report/7costlymistakes.html]

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Sales Performance - Choosing the Right Tools

Recently we interviewed fourteen sales executives to learn what they think really contributes to improved sales performance. We asked them the following question: what is the correlation between the tools they provide to their sales teams, and the results those sales teams achieve? Our colleagues told us that the way management goes about selecting, designing, and implementing sales practices, processes and software applications makes the difference in sales performance, not the tools themselves.

Our colleagues all represented major corporations in the B2B sector, with large sales organizations, major or national account teams, and well over a hundred years of combined field experience. They included senior executives, sales managers, and individual contributors. But overall, they agreed on four key points, with a bonus point thrown in for good measure:

1. If they build it, they will use it. In other words, if sales people who will use the sales tools have a say in building or selecting them, those sales people are much more likely to adopt and use the tools.

2. They will use it if they understand it. In the world of sales, ease of use seems to mean rate of adoption. If the tools make sense to sales people, if they produce useful insights without imposing a lot of data entry overhead, then sales people will use the tools.

3. If they use it, they are more likely to get desirable results. Once sales people have easy access to tools, methods, training programs, or technology that they had a hand in building, they use the tools. Then both sales and management can measure results. And once you measure the results you can manage them pretty well.

4. Once they get results, they want more and better results. So it was worth the effort to get the right technology, training and business processes in place, in the first place.

And the bonus: if you don't let them build it, and they don't adopt it, you probably won't get the results you want.

Ease of Use vs. Rate of Adoption

The first thing we discovered was ease of use doesn't really mean ease of use at all. It means "did you guys come up with something that makes sense to us sales people and makes it easier to do our jobs? Because if you did, we'll use it. If you didn't, forget it."

Of the fourteen people we interviewed, one thing was absolutely consistent, regardless of the size of business, industry sector, experience level of the sales team, or anything else. The sales team simply won't use any processes, methodologies, training programs or technology tools if they don't make sense and provide meaningful feedback no matter how elegant, popular, powerful or fashionable they may be.

In our limited sample, those who reported the greatest success and the happiest outcomes said that their sales force had had direct input into the choice or design of the tools, understood what they were designed to accomplish, or both. Further, several interviewees reported a correlation between the narrowness or specificity of the problem to be addressed, and the success of the tools chosen to address it. In other words, solving a small and easily identifiable problem had more success than sweeping change.

Examples:


A high-tech manufacturing firm sought and obtained sales input to design a new CRM solution to replace their outdated investment. Result: a streamlined system with significant increases in adoption followed by improved employee engagement and measurable growth in sales dollars.
At a transportation company, the account managers had a hard time managing their pipeline, so they chose a web-hosted software package to simplify pipeline management, and do nothing else. Result: high adoption, greater sales control, increases in business and virtually no budget impact on the IT department.
A provider of commodity products wanted to change from a product/channel focus to a market-segment focus. To make it easy for the sales force to adopt the new approach they invested in a formal change-management process that engages the people involved in the change. Result: a sales organization that has renewed motivation and is showing positive early results.
A large communications company maintains its competitive advantage with a consistent focus on customer retention and executive sponsorship based on carefully documented processes and policies. Sales people find it easy to engage a senior executive, even a C-level person, in account campaigns and visits. Result: commanding market share. Sales people in this company really know that Sales is king.


On the other hand, those reporting lower rates of success believed that management seemed not to understand or appreciate the realities of the sales mission, function and organization. As a result, sales people were less likely to be included in designing the desired tools and methods, or in identifying the need for change in the first place.

Examples:


An otherwise successful company provided all kinds of useful tools to its sales force, with high levels of adoption and success, but management decided not to address the need for mid-tier sales support. So those senior sales people must do their own "administrivia" at the cost of hours of productive face-time with customers.
One large industrial firm has spent years changing the business model from product focus to industry focus to account focus and back again, producing the response of "duck, here comes another initiative!" from sales people. Sales reps distrust management and are reluctant to adopt the next iteration. It's tough for this company to improve results in a systematic fashion.
A group of technical experts, none of whom had field sales experience, launched a successful business. But when they decided to launch a national account team, they failed to provide effective sales-force automation or rational sales processes. The national account team now spends a considerable amount of its time making the internal sale, again cutting into productive face-time with customers and prospects.

Sales Performance and the Right Tools

So what's the relationship between sales performance and the right tools? The answer lies not in the tools themselves, but in the strategies by which those tools are selected, designed and deployed.

When sales people are equipped with the right tools, they have two advantages. First, the right tools capture pertinent information and data that helps sales people to make consistently good decisions, contributing to predictable and consistent sales results. Second, and even more important, good tools, methods, and processes make the sales job less time-consuming, more efficient and less costly. And that means that sales people can devote MORE time to selecting the most qualified prospects, cultivating high-potential relationships, offering the most beneficial solutions, and winning the most profitable deals. Those are the sales tools that predict success, no matter what the state of the economy.

Ellen Bristol is the founder and driving force behind Bristol Strategy Group, the Miami-based sales-force productivity company, and developer of Selling the SMART Way®, BSG's flagship solution for productive sales teams. BSG's latest offering is the SMART Way® Scorecard, web-hosted toolkit for improving sales-force productivity. Visit the BSG website http://www.bristolstrategygroup.com email her at ellen@bristolstrategygroup.com or phone 305-935-6676.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Choosing The Right Sales Speaker For Your Performance Objectives

Considering hiring a top sales speaker for your next sales meeting or conference? Bringing in an outside authority can complement a sales manager's own efforts in pursuit of improved performance and productivity. A sales speaker can help a sales force meet and exceed quotas and meet and exceed customer expectations. Sales speakers are not of the one-size-fits-all variety, though. To gain the maximum benefit from scheduling a sales speaker to address your sales force, you must understand a few things about sales speakers and about your sales force.

Are all sales speakers created equal?

In general, there are two types of sales speakers: motivational sales speakers and educational sales speakers. (And contrary to some preconceived notions, educational sales speakers do not equate to boring sales speakers.)

Motivational sales speakers serve much the same purpose as motivational speakers in general, except their presentations are geared more specifically toward sales activities. A motivational sales speaker is typically engaged to generate an immediate response among presentation participants, boosting enthusiasm and energy while delivering relevant, practical content.

Educational sales speakers are also motivational, but rather than focus on attitude or emotion, they equip their audience with new skills or information which leaves sales professionals energized to put their newly acquired lessons into practice. Whereas motivation alone will fade over time and need to be renewed, education yields longer-lasting benefits.

How do I determine what type of sales speaker is best for my sales force?

There are a number of factors a sales manager must take into consideration to determine what type of sales speaker will generate the best results with his or her sales force. If morale is waning, then a motivational sales speaker who can re-ignite passion and purpose among the sales team may be the perfect solution to boost performance. It is important to determine the reason for the deficiency in morale, though, to determine what specific issues need to be addressed to remedy the situation.

If a sales manager determines that the sales force is lacking in the skills necessary to compete in today's ever-changing marketplace, then a sales speaker who can impart wisdom and insights for practical application may be most beneficial. (This type of presentation alone may boost morale.) A speaker with particular expertise in a given industry may yield even more positive results.

Another important consideration in selecting a sales speaker is whether your sales force engages in consultative sales or transactional sales. Scheduling a speaker with expertise in transactional sales to address a sales force that engages in consultative sales could have extremely adverse effects, and vice-versa if scheduling a consultative authority for a transactional sales force.

Who are some of the most popular sales speakers?

Among the most popular sales speakers today are best-selling authors and authorities including Jeffrey Gitomer, Neil Rackham, Tony Alessandra, Mike Marchev, and Jim Cathcart. Of course, there are hundreds of outstanding sales speakers from which to find the best match for your unique needs and objectives.

How do I decide which speaker is right for my sales force?

By reading articles and books on selling, you'll be able to get a good idea for which speakers and authors seem to best understand issues that are relevant to your industry and your sales force. You may also contact a speakers bureau to discuss your goals and receive suggestions of speakers who have proven successful in situations similar to yours. Once you find the right fit, the voice of an outsider can be one of your greatest assets in leading your sales force to the next level.

Shawn Ellis is founder and president of The Speakers Group, a speakers bureau based in Nashville, Tennessee. With nearly a decade of experience helping organizational leaders secure renowned keynote speakers and authors for their programs, Shawn has earned a reputation as a friendly, reliable and knowledgeable event partner. For more resources to help you in your meeting planning efforts, visit The Speakers Group's meeting planner article library [http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/article_library.htm] and speaker reference guide [http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/reference_guide.htm] on their web site at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Why Can't I Hire The Right Sales People?

Candidate screening is one of the most difficult tasks that recruiters and managers face. Most will tell you that screening sales talent is the toughest of all. Why? Sales people are trained in the art of persuasion. They know how to provide the desired responses to the questions. Even more daunting is when you are interviewing sales people that worked for a competitor. These sales people know the language and industry buzz words making it even more challenging to screen them. Fret not! It is possible to successfully screen sales talent, but there is work to be done before you even look at a résumé.

The most important step a company can take is to develop a sales talent screening program. This helps bring focus to the initiative. The mission of this program is to provide data that allows for the measurement of the candidate pedigree versus the desired profile. Think in terms of formulating a marriage, a sales marriage, that is.

This program should be fully documented showing step-by-step the components of the screening program. It is best to define who will be interviewing the candidates and their role in the interview process. It should define the tools that will be used as well as their purpose. Below are seven key components of an effective sales talent screening program.

1. Ideal Sales Person Profile. It has always surprised me how many companies have fully documented profiles of their ideal client. Yet, few have a profile of their ideal sales person. How can you screen when you don't know for what you are screening? Many of you have a clear picture in mind of the profile of your ideal mate. My bet is most of your close friends can rattle off your profile in a heartbeat. The same principle applies to sales talent. If you don't know exactly what you are looking for, how will you find it?

This profile should be fully detailed. Some of the areas to address in the profile are the experience you expect that candidate to already have, the skills that the candidate should already possess, and the skills you are not willing to teach. Truth is, this is an extensive topic about which I have dedicated another article. (Send me an email and I'll send you a link to that article.)

The lack of a fully-defined profile of the ideal sales person is the most common cause of bad sales marriages. It is also the major point of frustration between sales managers and recruiters. Recruiters often tell me that they feel they are throwing darts while blindfolded because they have so little detail about the desired profile.

2. Always Be Recruiting. In sales, there is an old expression. "The toughest time to make a sale is when you really need one." The same holds true for recruiting. When a slot is open on the sales team, it becomes an all hands on deck exercise to fill it. While the seat is open, revenue targets are in jeopardy. This leads many to forget the profile of the ideal sales person profile in the interest of filling a seat. Playing this forward a bit, the seat becomes vacant again a short time later when either side determines that it is not a good fit.

Sales recruiting is a year-round exercise. The best sales forces are always on the look out for strong sales talent. Find a company that identifies a strong candidate that meets their profile who wouldn't find a way to hire this individual. It is a rarity to say the least. Sales teams have turnover either driven by the company or the employee. It is best to have a candidate portfolio at the ready than to begin a process of surfacing candidates when a seat is open. Poor hiring decisions are made out of desperation to fill a seat. The open seat is a cost to the company every day it is unfilled. Yet, the cost is more painful if the seat is filled by someone who doesn't fit.

3. Reverse Interviewing. Since the intent of the process is for both sides to be able to determine if a marriage should be formulated, a wonderful technique is reverse interviewing. This is an interview performed by a member of the sales team who would be a peer if the candidate was hired. It is important that the individual(s) selected to participate in this step are loyal to the company, knowledgeable, and make a favorable impression. However, the "interviewer" does not ask any questions of the candidate. As you know, it is very easy to get yourself in hot water if illegal questions are asked. Thus, you don't want untrained people asking questions. There are two purposes of this component of the sales talent screening program. The first is to provide the candidate with an opportunity to ask questions of someone who would be their peer if they were to be hired. In essence, it is a way for them to get a picture of a day in the life of this job.

The second purpose is to measure how the candidate prepares for a sales call. A debrief is conducted with the "reverse interviewer" to see what questions were asked. If the candidate took advantage of this opportunity, they brought prepared, insightful questions and wrote down answers. If they didn't, what kind of preparation will the candidate do for a sales call? How interested are they really in this job? Every once in a while, a candidate will ask a question of the sales person like, "Can you take off at noon on Fridays?" Needless to say, the lapse in judgment raises a red flag of concern?

4. Standard Interview Questions. Often times, many candidates are screened for one job slot. This creates a need to be able to compare candidates to each other, in addition to the profile. To do this, a standard set of interview questions are needed. The responses are documented during the interview and reviewed after a candidate leaves the office. These questions are not designed to provide right or wrong answers. They are designed to see if this candidate's thought process is congruent with the needs of your business and with the profile of the ideal sales person.

When formulating your list of standard questions, it is helpful to include some sales scenarios that are common in your environment. "Your client balks at the price of your proposal. What do you do?" It is also helpful to have questions that show what makes this person tick. Since few colleges have "sales" as a major, it is always interesting to find how someone arrived at a sales career. "Of all of the careers you could select, why did you pick sales?"

The hot topic in today's recruiting world is behavioral interviewing which is a powerful tool. Behavioral interviewing, also called competency-based interviewing, focuses on past behavior. As a doctor friend of mine always says, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. The idea here is not to ask arbitrary questions, but rather to ask questions that help to expose areas that affect the sales marriage. If your company is always changing, you might want to determine how the candidate handles change. "Please share with me a time where you had to adapt to change." Like with any good interview, additional probing is necessary to get to the root of the issue. "How did you deal with that? What did you learn from the experience?"

You can probably imagine just how hard it is to formulate questions that demonstrate if this marriage will work if you don't have a profile against which to compare. If it will help you, send me an email and I'll send you my favorite 28 standard questions when interviewing a sales person.

5. Mock Sales Call. What better way to see if someone fits into your company's selling environment than to put them right in it! To do this effectively, you need to create a scenario for the candidate. I've found it most beneficial to give the candidate the scenario with one day's notice so they can prepare. They should be provided with the same amount of information a sales person in your company normally has before making an initial sales call.

Those members of your company who participate in the exercise should be somewhat scripted. I say "somewhat" because you don't want it to be so dry that it is unrealistic, but without any scripting it can be hard to stay in character.

The last piece you need to do this well is a score sheet. Know what you are looking to measure in the process and score accordingly. Can they conduct a thorough needs analysis? Did they identify the challenges faced by this prospect? Would you buy from them?

It is best if the scoring is done by a non-participant of the mock sales call. It is very distracting for the candidate if someone jots notes while they are speaking. What happens is that the candidate spends the rest of the exercise trying to read what was written.

6. Online Assessment Testing. There are a myriad of tools that are very helpful in the screening process for both personality and skill. Where some err is in the application of the data from these tools. Few, if any, of the online assessment companies suggest that their tool should be used to make a hire/no hire decision. The most appropriate application is to treat it as an additional data point in the sales talent screening program.

Linda Moeller, Product Director of market leader Employee Continuum, has seen companies use this great tool incorrectly. "We have seen many organizations fail to take the context of an organization into account when deciding the most appropriate assessment to use. For example, many organizations assume that implementing a sales assessment will guarantee them improved sales performers. This is not necessarily the case. For example, the personality characteristics required for a sales person selling office supplies to purchasing agents are very different than those required for a salesperson selling everything needed for a dentist office. In order to be successful, an organization needs to consider the type of relationship they have with their clientele and the competencies that will make these relationships successful."

7. The Ultimate Screening Tool. Writing is a lost art. Yet, we are more dependent on written communication than ever before. Email! Is there anything worse than a poorly written email that is sent to a prospect? It doesn't matter how good your product or service is, your company now looks sloppy and unprofessional.

An effective technique for screening sales talent is the use of the mini-business plan. When the candidate has satisfactorily completed all of the other steps of the pre-offer process, the request is made for a one-page business plan that shows how they would approach the job. I mention three times that I'm only looking for a one-page plan and ask when they can send it to me. It is important that the submission date be asked of the candidate, not the other way around as you will see in a moment.

Of all of the techniques that I have used over the years, this is the one where I have the most candidate fall out and I was always happy to learn that this sales marriage wouldn't work, before it was formulated.

This technique allows you to evaluate a number of important areas:

§ Can they communicate in written form coherently? If you were a client receiving this document, what message do you get about its author?

§ Do they understand what the role entails? Since this component is performed late in the process, they should have a clear picture of the job and expectations.

§ Is their approach consistent with the expectations of management? It is best to know now if you don't feel comfortable with their game plan.

§ Can they meet a self-imposed deadline? If the plan is late, the candidate is no longer considered for the role.

§ Can they follow directions? I asked for a one-pager, not an epic.

Having a sales talent screening program has many benefits. The most obvious impact is a longer sales tenure of your sales team which means an increase in sales performance and a reduction in personnel turnover. This can do nothing short of helping the bottom line of any company.

Lee B. Salz is President of Sales Dodo, LLC and author of "Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager." He specializes in helping companies and their sales organizations adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of business. Lee is available for keynote speaking, business consulting, and sales training. He can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, his website at http://www.salesdodo.com or by phone at 763.416.4321. This article is reprinted with permission from ERE http://www.ere.net

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Finding The Right Sales Person

Thanks - I'm Just Looking!

One of the hardest parts about making an investment in a new piece of digital gear

is finding the right Sales Person! The Sales Person will most likely have a very

significant effect on what you purchase. In many cases you may even walk into a

store with a very specific product in mind, but walk out with an entirely deferent

item because of the Sales Persons input. The question is did he help you or him?

Two types of Sales People.

Commission and Non-Commission. Is one better than the other?

This is more of a personal preference and depends on what kind of a sales

experience you are comfortable with.

Commission Sales People may come across as being a bit

more aggressive but are also more motivated in making sure all of your questions

are answered so you can make a buying decision. Commission Sales People make

more money when they sell more, to sell more they need to know more. This can

benefit you the customer. This type of sales force is usually well staffed so getting

help is usually very easy. Commission Sales People will try to avoid the Tire

Kicker, if they sense a lot of questions followed by a "I'll think about

it" then you more than likely lose their attention while they scope out the

next buying customer.

Non-Commission Sales People tend to be more laid back

but in some cases can be less informative. This is because Non-Commission Sales

People usually have other tasks to do like stocking shelves, cleaning, ordering etc.

you may not be their number one priority that day. Non-Commission Sales People

are usually hired based on their product knowledge and less for their sales skills,

they can be very informative and are more willing to help you with something even if

a sale seems unlikely to them. This type of sales force also seems to be

understaffed meaning you may have to wait for assistance.

So what is going on in a Retail Sales Reps mind?

One tool that is common to both Commission and Non-Commission

Sales People is what is called the "Spiff". The

"Spiff" is an incentive that can either originate from the

company that makes the product or even the retail store itself. It can sometimes be

cash or a prize for the most sales of a specific product. Not all products have the

same amount of commission to the Sales Person, two similarly priced products can

have different profit amounts, more profit means more commission to the Sales

Person.

How does this affect you the buying Customer?

You need to establish a good relationship with your Sales Person,

this way they will be more likely to sell you what is best for you, not them. A good

Sales Person knows that a happy customer will come back time and again and will

be willing to make a bit less on one sale in return for another sale down the

road.

What makes a good Sales Person?

A good Sales Person will ask a lot of question so they can
determine what is best for you.

A good Sales Person will be knowledgeable and if they don't
have the answer can get you the answer.

A good Sales Person will give you good follow-up support to make sure you
are happy with your purchase and get the most out of it.

A good Sales Person will be open minded to a variety of
products, not every product fits every person.

A good Sales Person can adapt to different personality types to
make the customer more comfortable.

What makes a good Customer?

Are you the kind of customer that will ask a thousand questions
and then go and buy the exact same product from another store or Sales Person just
because you got it for $5 less? Do you really think the original Sales Person will give
you the follow up support on a product you bought from someone else? No way!
Every store price-matches these days so buy from the Sales Person who was the
most informative.

Be nice to the Sales Person, it's not an easy job and can be very
draining especially when customers treat them like disposable product brochures.

If you are not ready to buy a product be honest with the Sales
Person and give them your time frame, more then likely they will spend the time you
need to get a good start on figuring out what product is right for you.

What about the extended warrantee?

This seems to always come up at the end of a sale and can be a bit

uncomfortable. It is true that Sales People make a part of their income from

extended warrantees but do I really need one? It's all about peace of mind, is the

price worth it? It only takes one repair and your warrantee can pay for its self. On

the other hand, are you the kind of person who will be re-buying an newer updated

version a year later, you may not get back your investment value for the remainder

of the unused warrantee on resale.

The bottom line.

You need to be comfortable with a Sales Person, personality types

are important. If possible make all of your purchase through the same Sales Person;

this will improve your sales experience. Your Sales Person should give you excellent

pre-sale and follow-up information. Remember a good Sales Person usually has a

lot of customers and can be very busy so be prepared to wait a bit for their

assistance, it will be worth it.

Michael Kaye - founder of [http://www.DigitizeMe.info]

Do you have difficulty when people talk about computers? Does it feel like they are speaking another language? We are here to help with the language used in computers, digital gadgets, email and the Web.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

The Right Type Of Literature Dispenser

Literature Dispensers are a great way of attracting attention or promoting businesses. They are often in areas where people are effectively a captive audience, such as in a waiting room or in a bus shelter. A good display will attract people even if they had no intention of looking at the material.

They are available for both indoor and outdoor usage with the material you use differing depending on what you intend to use them for. The difficulty is balancing the needs of effectively displaying your brochures while at the same making sure they are kept safe and stored away from the elements.

For example a lot of people use acrylic boxes with bent wire displays. This can be useful as they store a number of different sized brochures. However some people have found difficulty in loading them and this can result in torn or crumpled brochures. As much as possible you should avoid crumpled leaflets as this will often make the display look unprofessional.

Some boxes also have space for business cards. Effectively this is a promotional exchange between the professional customer and the business. Some restaurants offer competitions so that anyone who gives a card could potentially win free meals or a discount on their next meal.

Outdoor boxes tend to be more solid, either from harder forms of plastic or metal. They are often staked on the ground. The design of this type of box is made to withstand high heat and extreme cold. They should also guard the literature from the UV rays of the sun, as direct sunlight can damage them.

Literature Dispensers offer a good opportunity to promote your business in a wide array of places or alternatively a place where businesses can come to you and promote themselves. It is worth looking online to see what materials are available to suit your budget. With the right approach you will get the most from your promotional material.

There are a broad variety of Literature Dispensers available online and some excellent ones at Display Stands be sure to have a good look around before making a purchase.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Literature Reviews - Start on the Right Track

Starting and creating a literature review can be a tricky problem. For a start you need to know what your review should achieve and what sources you are going to use. The first step is always to revisit the research Aims and Objectives and ask yourself:

1. What do you want to find out?

2. What do you want to know about the topic?

3. What would help you write your thesis?

It can be easy to forget that the literature review also helps you to understand a topic. So it's not only a requirement of a thesis, it is a learning experience for you.


For example, if my aim were to research "User Generated Content in the context of museums", the literature that would interest me would be in these areas:

1. User Generated Content - defining what it is and how it is used?

2. User Generated Content in the context of museums - are any museums using it? Are there journal papers on the subject? Has someone already reviewed the area?

3. What alternatives are there to User Generated Content - as it's a relatively new topic then what did museums use before?

Even if your research aim is to only look at one particular topic, then use this topic as a starting point and start writing these down.

By now, you hopefully have a written list of possible topics so I recommend writing a short overview of these topics of about 200-300 words in total. The process of trying to write about these topics, will make you focus on what you need to know and what literature you need to be reading! Use coursework notes or your own experience and if you are stuck, then right down what you need to know. It's unlikely that you know nothing about your research topic, so try to take a few minutes to think about what it is you are trying to achieve and write this down.

Try to make your research topics clear before starting a literature review. This will make it easier and avoid you becoming overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available to you. So returning to my example, I'd start by using the search terms:

Keyword Search 1: User + Generated + Content + museums

Keyword Search 2: User + Generated + Content + museums + review

Keyword Search 3: Website + content + museums

Keyword Search 4: User + Generated + Content

This should give me enough journals and information to start writing a draft review.

Now from these searches, start to create headings for each of your main topics. As this is in draft format then it doesn't matter too much about the order. You'll find that once you start writing, the logical order will become clearer. It's very easy to quickly copy and paste words from one section to another, so the key thing here is to make sure your headings reflect what is in your Aims and Objectives!

A really good hint here is to search for a review on your subject, in a well-known journal database such as EmeraldInsight or ScienceDirect. If it's a popular topic, then there will be reviews on it. These are invaluable as the previous researcher will already have identified gaps in the literature and categorised the main headings.

As you write each part of the review, remember to write a brief introduction and conclusion at the end of each heading. The introduction may only be 50-100 words but it is important to explain why this area of the literature is being covered and how it relates to the Aims & Objectives. Similarly the conclusion briefly lists the main findings and helps to confirm that the work is relevant to the Aims and Objectives.

So to recap, an example of how to start is:

1. Write a short overview of what you need to know based on your Aims & Objectives and discuss this with your tutor or supervisor (200-300 words)

2. Search journal databases using keywords relating to your research

3. Search for a review on your topic (great if you can find one!)

4. Identify key topic headings and split your chapter into sub-headings

5. Write a draft review under each headings, with an introduction and conclusion at the end of each topic

Remember that your supervisor should always be able to help you. Ask them to review your work as you go along to make sure it's OK and on the right track.

If you are interested in learning more about the stages of a literature review then please visit our site dedicated to literature reviews and writing your dissertation: http://www.literaturereviewof.com

This article was written by Dr Thomas Parsons, the founder of sites dedicated to helping students complete their thesis and dissertations.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.