SALES SUPERSTARS: Do you have a Ronaldo on your sales team?

At a time when Spanish Soccer Team Real Madrid has paid a total of 130 million in transfer fees for superstars Ronaldo and Kaka, we turn our attention to the superstars of selling and ask what are they worth?

What about the sales superstars?

Manchester United has parted ways with leading goalscorer Ronaldo in return for £75 million from Real Madrid, setting a new transfer fee record. Ronaldo has been the clubs most talented player, scoring a total of 118 goals in 292 football games (that is the equivalent of a 40% conversion rate, I guess). But, what about the unnaturally gifted in selling? Is there such a thing as the sales superstar and what exactly would such a stellar performer be worth?

Do you have a Ronaldo on your sales team?

Some salespeople are superstars, always hitting their numbers and never failing to perform. But, what makes a superstar? Are they hired from the outside to boost sales performance, or can they be home grown from within? Can every salesperson become a superstar, or is this title reserved for a small chosen few? We set about answering some of these questions, setting out some of the typical answers and subjecting them to scrutiny.

Transfer Fees in Selling

First let us talk about transfer fees for salespeople. Everybody knows that the rates of turnover are high, especially for new hires. As many as 2 out of 3 new recruits in sales stay for no more than a few quarters.

So, there is no question but that sales force turnover is expensive. In fact we would suggest that the cost of a salesperson walking, or being pushed is 2-3 times his, or her annual salary. That is the equivalent of paying a pretty big transfer fee, but without getting anything in return.

Some people are better at selling than others, right?

Well, it is certainly true that the gap between the highest and lowest performing sales person in any organization is great. Indeed, it can be as much as 75%. Certainly not every salesperson gets to play in the premier league.

One sales superstar is worth 10 ordinary salespeople, right?
Well, that level of analysis is a little simplistic and could be dangerous. After all, finding a sales superstar is not easy. Most organizations cannot afford to hire a superstar salespeople, and those who can end up recruiting several average performers before finding their star. Therefore the reality is that most organisations must must aspire to develop sales champions from their existing ranks of full forwards, centre halves and so on.

Great salespeople are born not made, right?

The naturally gifted salesperson is a common misconception. Yes, there are certain personal characteristics and traits that are inherently beneficial in selling, but we firmly believe that sales stars are not born, but made.

We believe that sales is an equal opportunities employer. Everybody can sell and sell well, with the discipline to learn and apply the right strategies, skills and techniques. In the increasingly complex world of B2B sales, great salespeople are the result of great effort on their own part, as well as their organisations.

Would you rather have a great salesperson or a great sales manager?

The formula was hire a great salesperson, set the incentives and stay out of his, or her way. If he, or she does not perform find a replacement and fast. The management of sales people started and stopped at the setting of incentives. Well that just does not work.

We have seen time and time again that the ordinary salesperson can achieve superstar levels of performance if he/she received the right coaching and support.

Similarly, the average sales person who applies the right sales process can frequently win 'man of the match'. That is the opposite of the traditional view in selling where there has been too much focus on people and not enough on process, technique, or skill. The salesperson was expected to work his, or her magic on the customer, as opposed to following a process, or working within a framework.

One Superstar is Not Enough – Selling Requires a Team Effort

Traditionally, the salesperson was seen as a lone ranger, riding off into the sunset alone and coming back some time later with the order in hand. Now the approach has very much shifted to a team based approach to selling.

It is teams that win matches, not superstars. However the exalted sales superstar can be a reluctant team player. He, or she may be reluctant to pass to colleagues, either the information, or the credit. However, in complex B2B sales just as teams are involved in the buying organisation, a myriad of skills and talents are required in the sales effort. So the salesperson must orchestrates the efforts of a team, that includes technical, support, financial and other players on both sides.

Once a Superstar, Always a Superstar?

The premier league salesperson on

moving to another industry, company, or market can quickly face relegation. For example, we have worked with a number of salespeople who previously belonged to the Golden Circle of a major global vendor, but on moving to a newer and smaller enterprise struggled to perform.

There is no universal standard for a

sales superstar, it is highly context dependent and a wide range of environmental factors are at play, including the role, the levels of sales and marketing support, the organisational culture, etc.

There is no ideal salesperson and the failure to appreciate this is where the problem begins. Different sales organizations and different sales situations require different personalities and skills. There is no template for the universal superstar salesperson, or no magic formula, or set of ingredients.

The right salesperson depends on the requirements of the role, for example:

- Different skills are required for consultative, as opposed to transactional s

elling, and for B2B versus B2C.

- Different behaviours, attitudes and skills are required for selling to senior executives in big organisations, as opposed to lower levels, or smaller ones.

- Different skills are required for selling new products, or technologies, as opposed to existing ones and for selling to new, as opposed to existing customers

Creating A Sales Superstar

If the world is full of average salespeople, how can they be transformed into superstars, or at least be enabled to perform at their best?

Well our research shows that incentives and remuneration are not the enough. Nor is training, particularly once off training interventions. If you are going to be a Ronaldo, you will need to have a Ferguson as your leader and coach. That is because coaching is clearly the number one factor in determining salesperson performance. Added to this is process and systems, proposition and strategy, of course.

In Conclusion.

If you have got a Ronaldo on your sales team, great, hold onto him, or her for as long as you can. However, if your salespeople have more natural, as opposed to unnatural levels of ability you can still get into the finals. Either way attention to those fundamentals of sales strategy, teamwork, coaching and process is vital.

The lone ranger sales person rides into the sun set

No more solo performances

Increasingly organizations are turning from the ‘lone ranger’ approach to selling, to a more team based approach.  That is because in today’s complex sales environment, great solo performances are not enough.  Sales is too important just to be left to the sales person alone.

Today’s stellar performing salesperson is merely the front man.  Selling complex solutions requires the combined and coordinated efforts of a team that includes; technical, sales support, account management and other people and skills. 

Team-based Selling

They key word is team.  The multiplicity of tasks, the variety of decision making factors and the number of people involved in the decision making process, means that selling is too much for just one person.  There are no a multiplicity of roles required in any sales team.

No one person has all the information, knowledge and expertise required to single-handedly close a major deal - to navigate the customer through the different stages of increasingly lengthy and complex sales cycles, including;

-          Factfind / needs analysis
-          Developing the solution
-          Nurturing relationships and building credibility
-          Communicating the benefits
-          Calculating and Negotiating price
-          Building and validating the business case
-          Demonstrating / customizing / integrating the technology
-          Contract negotiation
-          Implementation and project management
-          Problem solving

The Team Selling Challenges

A team is not just a collection of individuals.  It is a meshing together of different skills, disciplines and even perspectives in the pursuit of a common purpose.   However, the diversity inherent in great teams, also represents one of the greatest challenges to getting people working effectively together:

       -         Different roles and backgrounds, sales and technical, for example, or even sales and marketing.  Too often the lines of demarcation can become battle lines.

       -         Different personalities and sometimes contrasting role-related stereotypes - for example the typical salesperson who is outgoing, confident and shoots from the hip, versus the typical techie who is likely to be understated, introverted and more analytical.

       -         Different disciplines, each with its associated language, methodologies and paradigms.  It is clear that most engineers and sales people think differently.  They speak and act differently too.

       -         Last but by no means least, there is the inter-personal element, the relationships, the egos, the histories and the culture.

Diversity equals strength

Diversity in the right team environment means synergy.  Different perspectives, different approach, etc. all are valuable.  But, combing them together effectively is key.  That requires matching people to the right roles and getting people to sign off the same hymn sheet.  It also requires an coach, or leader to ensure effective communication, provide encouragement, manage feedback, etc . 

Great solo performances are not enough.  If the salesperson is the trumpet, then technical is the strings section, account management is the drums, etc.  But is everybody in harmony and just who is conducting the orchestra?

12 ways to unlock the real potential of your sales team

Managers often say that their people 'are their greatest asset'.  Yet, if surveys are to be believed most of those people are neither very happy, nor very productive in their jobs.

This is not a poke at the people in question, far from it – issues of employee satisfaction, motivation and performance are, in my view primaryily the responsibility of the manager. 

After all, it is the manager (or his predecessor) that has recruited, selected, trained, managed and led the person into their present zone of satisfaction, or performance.  If that is not where the manager wants the person to be then he/she have got to have a plan for how they are going to help the person in question change it.

Wouldn't you rather have an empty chair than an empty suit?   Because a half hearted sales person, is almost as bad as no salesperson at all, ensuring high levels of motivation and performance is a particularly important issue for sales managers.

Many managers prefer dealing with spreadsheets and contracts, as opposed soft issues, such as; staff satisfaction, or potentially 'dicey' areas, such as; employee reviews.  For sales managers this is where, because both personalities and wills tend to be stronger, the comparison with 'managing a bag of cats' is often drawn.

So how can managers transform the levels of motivation and performance of their staff?  Well, to find out I turned to the Gallop survey of 10 million employees and managers.  More precisely, I turned to 'The 12  Elements of Great Managing' by Rodd Wagner and James Harter for the list of factors that determine job related performance and satisfaction in any organization. 

The more productive the team member the more of the following points apply:

1. I know what is expected of me

2.       I have the materials and equipment required to do my work right
3.       At work I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day

4.       In the last 7 days I received recognition, or praise for doing good work

5.       My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person

6.       There is someone at work that encourages my development

7.       At work, my opinions seem to count

8.       The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my work is important

9.       My associates or colleagues are committed to doing quality work

10.      I have a best friend at work

11.      In the last 6 months somebody at work has talked to me about my progress

12.      This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow

From reading the above list it is pretty clear what we, as managers, need to do to enable our people to perform at their best.  

Steel tycoon Carnegie, said 'you can burn down my factories, but leave me my sales people and I will be back to where I am today in less than a year'.  Sounds like the 12 factors applies to his sales team.

 

Don't be Afraid to Ask - What kind of job am I doing?

Yes you can.

There are few salespeople who at one time or another in their career have asked themselves searching questions, such as; 'what kind of job am I doing?', 'am I the best person to be selling this?', 'can I make a success of this role?', or perhaps even 'should I be in sales?.'

In particular, people who are new to sales related roles often ask themselves the question 'am I the right person for this job'. They often say 'well I am not a natural sales person' and express discomfort regarding aspects of the role and their performance.

Well to both, we say 'good question' and well done for asking it.  In our experience, the mere fact that somebody asks these questions suggests a characteristic that is essential to sales success.

Those people who occupy sales, or business development, roles are generally assumed to be highly confident and of course in their dealings with customers and prospects the need to be seen as such. 

However, the reality is that when you scratch beneath the surface they can be quite introspective.  As such they are not afraid to question their approach, success, or even skills.  Yet, rather than being an indication of weakness, such self awareness is actually a pillar of success. 

Great salespeople review the last sales meeting they just had, the last proposal they submitted, the last campaign they ran – constantly identifying opportunities for improvement, or greater success.  Could I have handled that objection differently?  Did I prequalify the opportunity sufficiently?  Did I use the language of the customer and avoid the technical jargon of our own?