L'importance de mesurer la volonté de vendre

Imagine this. You have a serious illness. Or at least, an illness that worries you enough to require surgery. You know that your body isn't functioning properly. You know what you need to do to get better. The treatment is costly and time-consuming. But you don't know where to go. What do you do?

1- You apply the treatment to your entire body.

2- You get an MRI to find out where to treat it?

I'm guessing you'd choose option two, right? It would be foolish not to know exactly which part of the body to treat. And what the problem is exactly. And therefore where to invest your time, energy and money.

Well, it's the same thing when it comes to managing sales teams. When there are problems within a sales organisation, it's important to analyse where the problems lie before implementing a solution to transform the sales team and, in turn, transform the results. Three reasons come to mind:

1- Casting errors: First of all, at the risk of being blunt, there have often been recruitment mistakes. Too often I see individuals in sales teams who are not cut out for sales. There's nothing wrong with that. But these mistakes cost time, money and can even impact other team members. It is therefore necessary to identify the team members who are no longer part of the team's future. And those who are part of the team's future.

2- Mindset before technique. There is a certain perception that, in sales, what matters is technique. This is a fundamental mistake. Of course, technique is important. But it is not as important as mindset, attitude and the habits that are put in place.

We have seen too many salespeople who we have explained certain techniques to but who are unable to implement them. This is because they have too many issues with their beliefs or a lack of willpower. For example, a refusal to change (‘I've been doing it this way for years’) or difficulty articulating things in front of their prospects (‘I can't say this to my prospects’). Without knowing the sales DNA of individuals, and without measuring the willingness to sell of future salespeople and existing salespeople, it is not possible to put in place the necessary personalised action plans to get the most out of a sales or account management team.

When a coach introduces a scientific approach, free from human bias, to maximise results

3- A-Player / B-Player / C-Player: In sport, not everyone has the same abilities or the same potential. No one is born a Federer or world number one. But there are aptitudes. And sales is similar. It's a sport. So there are people who are B-Players but have the potential to be A-Players if they are well coached with the right approach. Others already are. And others don't have the ability. As a sales manager, it's important to focus on the B-Players who give you the most bang for your buck, the biggest return on your investment of time, energy and money. However, how can you avoid making mistakes about who is in each category? Someone perceived as an A-Player may actually be someone who knows the organisation's system and ‘games it’ to get the best leads (I've seen it). Or there may be false positives or false negatives. Only rigorous, unbiased analysis can prevent these mistakes and identify where to focus development efforts.

That's why, before I start working with a sales team, I work with OMG to evaluate the team and avoid costly recruitment mistakes. Established for over 30 years and a global leader in sales team assessment and predictive recruitment of salespeople and other sales professionals, OMG provides this predictability and a scientific approach to the skills of existing salespeople and candidates. It measures 21 key skills for each individual.

And THE most important skill to measure, which is difficult to quantify using a traditional approach (interview), is the desire to sell. The two main components of this are the person's desire to improve their circumstances and their commitment to doing whatever it takes, as long as it is ethical, of course!

I've actually stopped counting the number of managers who tell me, ‘Some of my salespeople don't have that hunger!’

Measuring the sales skills of a salesperson before hiring

I can't help thinking of that film with Brad Pitt. The parallel between selecting basketball players ‘on feeling/experience’ or using a data-based approach and recruiting salespeople is striking. So, do you and your recruitment and team development plans rely on ‘gut feeling’, or do you have a rigorous, scientific approach? To paraphrase Brad Pitt:

‘Measure (the individuals in your sales team) or don't get as much results as you deserve.’

Image credit: Manos TS