This is another short clip from a Las Vegas speech a few years back. What I said is still true – there is a three-part criteria for determining the value of any rule you have, or make, for your salespeople (or any other department), and you need to pay attention to it. If you don’t, you’ll have lower sales performance than necessary, higher turnover, and all the negative effects of those two things.
This is still THE best way to engage, retain, and build relationships with your salespeople. This was recorded live at the PPAI – Promotional Products Association International Expo in Las Vegas in 2015. It’s only two minutes, but well worth your time to watch!
Onboarding salespeople is one of those activities where “act in haste; repent in leisure” certainly applies. There’s a big difference between “doing it” and “doing it right.” If you rush onboarding now to get them out in the field quickly, you’ll probably regret it later. This also goes, by the way, for industry experience hires, as I explain in this video.
In this video, I explain how to build a 90-day, three-step process for successfully onboarding salespeople so that they succeed now and later. Make no mistake – a great onboarding process results in more successful salespeople AND greater sales longevity.
Want my help? I can help you build a great onboarding program as part of one of my Hiring Assistance programs.
This is an oldie but a goodie. I recorded this video six years ago, and I wanted to bring it back up. As we emerge from the Covid19 crisis, it will definitely be an “employers’ market” in hiring. That will tempt a lot of hiring managers into getting a bit sloppy with their hires, or into narrowly focusing on one industry. Don’t. This video explains why.
This is the answer to a question I get asked frequently. “Troy, my veteran salespeople (and maybe some of my non-veteran salespeople) don’t want to use my CRM program. How can I persuade them to do it?” I’ve seen a lot of people attempting to answer the question, but they all come at it from a tech-centric perspective, not a sales-centric perspective. Well, I’m a sales guy, so this is from a sales perspective.
Many years ago when I was a salesman, one of my greatest ambitions was to become a Sales Manager. I figured that I’d love the job. You’ve heard the expression, “Be careful what you wish for?” This was not one of those times. I loved being a Sales Manager. I loved leading a group of salespeople, developing them, watching them grow, and watching the results come up. In fact, I still love it – it’s just that I get to love it now with many companies at once, rather than one at a time.
It’s been over twelve years since I’ve led a sales force, and the most amazing aspect of those twelve years is how much the job of Sales Manager has changed. Some of those changes are due to technology, some are due to changes in people, some are just due to changing times. What is disturbing to me is how many Sales Managers aren’t changing with the needs of the job. Today’s Sales Manager has different requirements than even twelve years ago. Let’s talk about the core competencies that will make a Sales Manager successful in today’s world. These are presented in no particular order.
You might think that I wrote this column for the Sales Managers out there, or for the business owners who employ them. And, partially, I did. But I also wrote this for those of you who maybe were where I was in 1997 – working toward that first Sales Management job. I got it in 1998, but nobody told me what the core competencies were. I had to figure them out. Hopefully this shortens your path.
I just reconfigured my home office. Yes, I work out of my house. My business evolution has been different than most; I began with a home office and then moved into a dedicated office in an office building. Then, as my business went national and grew exponentially…..I moved back into a home office. I never said that I did things like everyone else!
My home office remodel included something very important – an 18×24 white board. Not just any white board, mind you, but a white board lined and lettered to track sales metrics. Not my clients’, MINE. For years I’ve been advising my clients that visibly posting the key metrics and goals of your business motivated people to achieve and surpass them – but (consultant, consult with thyself), I’ve never done it. Now I have, and I’m going to tell you what my key metrics are – and how you can adapt them to your situation.
One reason I stopped setting activity metrics for myself is that, when I went national, the conventional “calls/appointments/proposals” numbers didn’t work anymore. So, as part of my business plan for 2015, I had to design new ones. 2014 was my best year ever (thank you for that, by the way), and if 2015 is to surpass 2014, good metrics are essential. They are for you, as well. So, with no further ado, here are my monthly tracking numbers:
Monthly sales: This one is obvious, I know, but I still talk to otherwise savvy businesspeople who cannot tell me, off the top of their head, what a monthly run rate should be for a successful salesperson. I have my monthly target, and if I hit it, I write the number in green; if I miss, I write it in red. To answer a question I’m often asked, yes, it’s okay to seasonally adjust your goals if your business fluctuates. I didn’t do that myself, even though I know that there are some fluctuations. I kept mine simple.
MSA to Reach Annual Goal: MSA is “Monthly Sales Average,” so this measurement is “Monthly Sales Average Needed to Reach Goal.” It’s pretty simple; I subtract the year to date actual sales number from the goal, divide by the number of months left, and there’s my number. At the top of the column is also the target MSA, which is just the goal divided by 12. Again, if the MSA needed is below the goal MSA (in other words, I’m ahead of my goal), I write the number in green. If not, I write it in red.
Number of National Speaking Engagements Scheduled/Completed: This is an important one for me, and would correlate nicely to a “First Appointment” metric that I recommend to my clients. For many if not most of my clients, a speaking engagement is their introduction to me and what I can do for their business. I have a target number of what I call “National” speaking engagements. “National” is a large conference, either in Kansas City or elsewhere, that draws a significant amount of my target audience. I use the same red/green criteria as before.
Target Accounts Won: I have a criteria for a “target account,” in terms of annual revenue, and a goal for the number of these accounts in 2015. I’m simply going to list them line-by-line, individually, as they happen.
Top Five Prospects: In my vernacular, a “Prospect” is someone who has not bought from me within the past three years, or ever. As opportunities come up, I’ll list my top ones in this space.
Monthly New Wins: I’ll just list out the new accounts that I win monthly.
So, what do I expect this to do for me? I expect it to help keep me focused. Some of the more technical members of this audience are saying, “But, Troy, why go to all this trouble when all you really need is an Excel spreadsheet to track this data, put it in the form that you want it, and it could even be a dashboard on your laptop when you open it?” That is a correct take. However, I know myself. I want this slapping me in the face every day when I enter my home office. And, of course, being up on the wall means that it’s visible to my most important boss – my wife. I don’t want her seeing red on the board.
Yes, I do believe it will keep me focused. More importantly, and this is why I’ve written this article, doing the same will keep YOU focused. If you’re a sales manager, a “Key Metrics” board that’s visible should be part of your sales management strategy. Your metrics might differ from mine, and that’s OK. If you’re a sales rep, or even a business owner who does his or her own selling, invest in one of these for YOUR wall. Keep it up. There is power in numbers, and there is power in visibility – and in visible numbers, there is the power to help you have a better 2015. I think it’ll work for me, and I know it will work for you.
