In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains the mistakes most Sales Managers make when running meetings for their sales team! Instead of being a motivational, uplifting boost to your team, most sales team meetings are boring, too product and information driven and insanely dull affairs for most salespeople. Read this article to help you avoid the common mistakes most Sales Managers make, and get your meetings back on track!….

Whenever I’m talking to (or working with) Sales Managers, they invariably ask me for some help in running the team sales meetings. They realise that running a compelling sales meeting is vitally important, but often fall into running meetings that don’t inspire, motivate or even engage their sales team.

Have a look at the common mistakes most Sales Managers make below, and make sure you don’t fall foul of them!….

Sales Management Mistake No 1 – Dragging Them On Too Long

Far too many sales team meetings drag on too long! I’ve known meetings that could have been done in 2-3 hours drag on all day. I’ve also known meetings that could have been done in 30 minutes last 2-3 hours.

The longer the time period, the more difficult it is to maintain interest and attention from the attendees. Lunch will go for longer than scheduled, people don’t make it back from breaks on time because they’re taking/making a call etc etc.

So think about what you want to cover in the meeting, and how long that would take. Just because you may have the field reps up to the office for the day, doesn’t mean that meeting has to take all day for example.

Sales Management Mistake No 2 – Too Much ‘Whinging’

This is mean to mean too much whinging from your team, but I’ve also known Sales Managers be guilty of this in sales meetings! Remember, your sales team are all together in one place (whether physically or virtually) and they’ll use that opportunity to ‘gang up’ on you if you’re not careful.

This can be a tactic used by the more experienced people, or the people whose figures aren’t where they should be this month – or both!

Some salespeople will also have their ‘favourite topics’ for this – ‘the company doesn’t do enough marketing’ is one example. Another is something like ‘our prices are not competitive compared to…..’ And the old favourite ‘well if we had done such-and-such back in 2005….’

You need to be aware of this, prepared for it and deal with it as soon as it comes up!

Sales Management Mistake No 3 – Lack Of Preparation

This again counts on two levels – both the salespeople and yourself. If the salespeople are unprepared, it’s normally because of a lack of communication or understanding between you, or a tactic to distract you from looking closely at their figures and activity – usually when they’re underperforming!

Lack of preparation on your own part normally happens when there’s pressure on other things – then suddenly the sales meeting creeps up on you and before you know it, it’s the night before and you haven’t planned the day properly.

Whether intentional or not, I’ve sat through many meetings that felt like this was the case!

If the meeting isn’t properly planned beforehand, the meeting can feel like a waste of time to all the participants. Before the meeting, think about your outcomes, what you want to cover (not just copying the agenda of the last meeting!) and how to get your message across in the most effective way.

Sales Management Mistake No 4 – Not Challenging The Team

Another common mistake Sales Managers make is not to challenge the team, particularly around their sales pipeline, or prospecting lists. Far too many salespeople are allowed to get away with just paying ‘lip service’ to these important activities.

I remember being sat in a sales meeting where one of the salespeople was reading out his sales pipeline and going through which businesses he thought he would convert before the month was out. When he said a certain name the rest of the team started sniggering. He’d mentioned the same company name 4 months in a row and didn’t appear to be any closer to converting them! Whether he was deluding himself, or genuinely felt he was going to convert them, I’m not sure!

Either way, he should have been challenged on it! The Sales Manager concerned unfortunately just nodded and moved onto the next salesperson. Therefore, none of the team to the exercise (or the sales team meeting in general) seriously, and just saw it as an excuse to get away from their normal work for a few hours – not the sort of outcome you want from a sales team meeting, is it?

Sales Management Mistake No 5 – Too Much About ‘Product’ Or ‘Information’

This is another common problem with most sales team meetings. Some Sales Managers think that the meeting is only about ‘information delivery’ to their team. I’ve even seen some managers get out ‘memos’ that they’ve sent to the team previously, and then go through them in the sales meeting! Seriously!

Another version of this is that valuable time at the sales meeting is taken up with ‘product’ discussions – some people even invite suppliers in to present their latest products to the team. Unfortunately, these ‘presentations’ often fall short of the mark – not tailored to the audience and appear to the supplier’s ‘stock’ presentation that they’d give to potential buyers (not resellers), forgetting the important fact that the team isn’t there to buy their product, they’re there to sell it for them!

The impact on the team therefore is usually is too technical. information overload, and boredom!

Think about the reasons you have the sales meetings with your team for a moment. Surely some part of these meetings should be motivational? Particularly if your team are based in the field and it’s your only opportunity to see them for the month? Doesn’t it make sense that part of the meeting should be about motivating the team and helping them deal with their current sales challenges, rather than boring them to death?!!

Oh and on that note, you do include some sales skills training and drills as part of the meetings, don’t you?

Got a question about this article, or want some specific ideas on running your team’s sales meetings? Drop me a line with any questions at www.andy-preston.com/ask-andy/

I’ve just written an article on tips for Sales Managers to run more effective team meetings. Request your free copy of the full article here – www.andy-preston.com/ask-andy/

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Andy Preston is a leading Sales Expert, Trainer and Motivational Speaker. He runs the Ecademy ‘Sales And Cold Calling Tips Club’ as well as writing for magazines, newspapers and trade journals all around the world on anything related to sales and selling.

You can get Andy’s free cold calling and sales tips HERE

You can also see more about Andy’s training for small businesses at www.salesbreakfast.net

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2009. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines. Media enquiries – details here

Selling By Email – 5 Mistakes Most Salespeople Make

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains why most people struggle with ’selling by email’ – they don’t understand it, they don’t know when to use it (and when not to) and they don’t know how to use it for best results.

After reading this article you’ll be able to utilise email to add value to your sales efforts – instead of hampering them – and get your sales figures back where they belong!……..

Please note: this is a ’shortened’ version of a full article I wrote for a sales magazine recently. If you’d like a copy of the full article, please ask for one using this link

When I working with sales teams all over the world, Sales Managers and Directors often tell me that they believe all salespeople are inherently lazy. I’m not sure I agree with that hugely sweeping statement, but I do think salespeople often look for the quickest way to do something!

I think this is partly down to the fact that a lot of salespeople only start earning real money when their commission kicks in, so any task that isn’t directly related to bringing in new customers, orders or money, they tend to try and find the quickest way to do! Hence why the managers think they’re lazy.

As salespeople though, this ‘quickest route’ habit can often cause us problems! Particularly as technology has advanced and email is a popular communication method for many. However, this often results in salespeople resorting to email communication – at the expense of their own sales figures! Have a look at the examples of common email sales mistakes below, and see if any ring true for you……

Email Sales Mistake Number 1 – Using It To ‘Follow Up’

Let’s look at this from a ‘new business’ perspective. You’ve spoken with (or met with) a client previously, you’ve started to develop rapport, but they’ve probably got an existing supplier, or existing way of doing things. So you didn’t pick up their business from your initial call or appointment.

Your boss has probably been putting pressure on you about your sales figures or your sales pipeline. So you decide you need to ‘follow up’ with a few people, this particular prospect included. So what do you do next? Pick up the phone and call them, establish their current situation and needs and potentially see how you may be able to add value to what they’re trying to achieve over the next few months? Close for another appointment, attempt to dislodge the existing supplier (or existing process) and pick up their business? Or send an email?

If you’re in the ‘email’ category, stop it! Right now!

Email Sales Mistake Number 2 – Just ‘Adding’ People To A Mailing List

Another great idea from the marketing department. Sending an email newsletter or similar to keep people ‘informed’ of your products and services. The funny thing is, how many newsletters do you get that you don’t read, or you don’t read in full? I bet it’s quite a few. If you don’t know the sender well, you probably don’t read it at all. Sometimes even when you know the sender well you still don’t read it!

Don’t sit back and think that just because someone is on your generic email list that that’s helping you ’sell’ to that person. In most cases it isn’t. The responsibility to move that person through your sales pipeline is still yours!

Email Sales Mistake Number 3 – Sending Mainly ‘Flyers’ By Email

Please tell me you don’t do this? Even worse if the email is titled ‘offer of the month’ or similar! If the person hasn’t used you before, you’re relying on ‘luck’ for the person to buy from you. And the more competitive your marketplace and the higher the price of what you sell, the less likely people are to buy!

Plus as mentioned in my last point above, it’s hardly ‘personal’ communication to that prospect, is it? Is this really the professional sales job you were employed to do? If this is the best you can do in terms of ’sales persuasion’, you’re in trouble!

Email Sales Mistake Number 4 – Responding To New Sales Enquiries Via Email

Let’s think about this one. You or your company has expended time, money and effort in producing the incoming sales lead. Whether it’s come from a previous phone call by you or a colleague, networking, advertising or over the internet, you’ve managed to get a precious incoming sales lead.

The next question is, what are you going to do about it? Pick up the phone and find an excuse to start a dialogue to understand their needs in more detail, positition a ‘next step’ in the sales process and look for some committment from that person. Or just send a quick email giving some information and leaving them to ‘wander’ on their own, with no idea how motivated they are to purchase, their timescales, or what other options they’re considering?

Looks like you’ve missed your chance again, doesn’t it? In most cases if they come back to you, it’s because when they enquired with your competition, they did a worse job than you did (hard to believe I know, but it could be true). Is this really the best way of dealing with that precious incoming sales lead do you think?!!

Email Sales Mistake Number 5 – Sending Proposals Or Quotes By Email

Now it’s time for my personal favourite! Sending proposals or quotes by email. You’ve had the meeting with a potential client (or at least an in-depth telephone conversation)……you agree to send details of what was discussed……then you put it in an email. Really?!! Now you’re in trouble.

Why on earth didn’t you position your offering when you were face to face with the client? When you could read their body language and reactions to your offering (and your price) best….when you could judge whether you had got the proposal right or not?……when you had the best chance of getting them to say ‘yes’?

Even if you needed time to put the details together, why on earth didn’t you organise a second meeting to discuss it in more detail? Crazy! You’re giving other salespeople a better chance to win that business over you – why on earth would you want to do that?!!

 

So Why Do People Send Quotes Or Proposals Via Email?

Normally people send quotes or proposals by email for a few reasons. The first reason is fear of rejection. It ‘hurts’ less to send it by email as at worst, they just send an email back saying ‘no thanks’ – much easier to deal with than them saying it to your face, isn’t it? Or if they don’t reply to you (or send an email back saying they’re thinking about it) they haven’t really rejected you at all, have they? Can you see how that kind of thinking is holding you back from making more sales?!!

The second reason is laziness. You probably would say it’s because you’re busy, but it’s laziness. This is one of the most important parts of the sales process, and you’ve decided to email it because it’s ‘easier’! From an objective perspective, how stupid is that?!!

The third reason is because is ‘normally’ do it that way! Does that mean it’s the best way? Or even any good at all?!! Let’s think about this – it could be the most important part of the sales process, and you’re just sending it off into the ‘ether’ and hoping they’ll give you a positive response. Again – the more competitive the marketplace, the higher the price of your product/service and the longer the time elapsed from your initial conversation/meeting the less likely you are to get the business!

Please note: this is a ’shortened’ version of a full article I wrote for a sales magazine recently. If you’d like a copy of the full article, please ask for one using this link

You can also ask any questions about this article or sales in general, by contacting Andy here

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

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Andy Preston is a leading Sales Expert, Trainer and Motivational Speaker. He runs the Ecademy ‘Sales And Cold Calling Tips Club’ as well as writing for magazines, newspapers and trade journals all around the world on anything related to sales and selling.

You can get Andy’s free cold calling and sales tips HERE

You can also see more about Andy’s training for small businesses at www.salesbreakfast.net

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2009. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines. Media enquiries – details here

 This article was inspired by a couple of small business owners that have approached me recently with concerns about employing their first salesperson. I thought it would be useful to share with others some of the things you need to do before you employ them, and also what to watch out for!
 

The Challenge……You’re thinking of taking on a salesperson, but you’re not sure how much to pay them, whether it would work, whether you’ll just end up paying for no results, and you’re just not quite sure what to do………..

There could be a number of reasons that you’re considering employing a salesperson. It could be that your business has expanded to a point where it would make sense to employ a salesperson. It could be that you’re involved in a business that requires you to “deliver” the product or service (like consultancy, web design, training etc) and you don’t have enough time to deliver and sell at the same time. It could also be that your sales skills aren’t as good as you would like and that you think someone else would be better at selling than you are.

Whichever it is, and whether you’re thinking of taking on someone part time or full time, the tips below will work for you. Even if you’re thinking of outsourcing your sales to a telemarketing company or similar, some of the tips below will still work for you, although I do have a number of thoughts on what you need to do if you’re considering outsourcing, but that’s a separate article!

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Tip No 1 – Consider Where They’re Going To Work

If you run your business from home, some business aren’t comfortable with others working from their home, and some employees aren’t comfortable working from someone else’s house! In addition, the environment doesn’t always feel like “work” and it’s too easy for the salesperson to relax, especially if the business owner isn’t around! If they are going to work from your house, have you arranged a separate telephone line, computer and access to your CRM system or database (you do have one of those, don’t you?). Very often CRM or database software carries a “per user” license fee, so you need to think about this beforehand. Also if the salesperson turns up for work and they don’t have a separate phone to use, this can make things very difficult.

If they are going to work from your office then at least it is a more “formal” environment, but if the salesperson is going to be there on their own some of the time, then you can adopt most of the things mentioned above. Also from a security point of view, what safeguards have you put in place to stop them stealing data or customers?

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Tip No 2 – New Or Experienced?

The second thing to consider is are you going to take on a new salesperson, or someone more experienced? If you’re taking on someone fairly new to sales, you will carry some responsibility for training them. Unlike the environment of a larger company, where you have the luxury of putting them next to more senior salespeople to help them “learn the ropes”, in a smaller business where they’re going to be the only salesperson, that obviously isn’t possible. A training plan should be put in place to help the new salesperson gain the skills needed as quickly as possible. The exact skills needed are going to be dependent on their role (telesales or field sales for example) but at the very least consider telephone skills or cold call training as one of the first things to being an immediate return-on-investment.

If you’re planning to take on an experienced salesperson, be careful you don’t make the biggest mistake most small business owners make in this area. That is, thinking “oh, they’ll know what to do” and leaving them to it! Whatever you do, don’t make this mistake. The absolute last thing you should do is leave them to do it on their own! I’ll expand on this more as we cover the other points below….

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Tip No 3 – What Is Their Role?

The third thing to consider is, what is their exact role and what do you want them to achieve? Are you employing them in a “telesales” position, where you’re looking for them to make appointments for you or someone else? Or are you looking for them to make the appointments, then attend themselves, taking the process all the way through to closing the deal? The two roles are different and require different skill-sets, so that will affect the type of person you hire! Also, don’t expect the newer salesperson to be able to go out and close deals face-to-face as well as an experienced salesperson would. Are they going to be predominantly new business focused, or will they have an element of account management to their role? Again, this will effect the sort of person you hire.

You also need to define exactly what you’re looking for them to achieve. An all-too-common complaint that I hear from salespeople is that they’re doing what their manager wants them to do, but the manager is still complaining! This is usually because the manager has not clearly communicated to the salesperson exactly what is required. The biggest thing to cover here is, how are you targeting the salesperson? In order for there to be fewer misunderstandings, you should agree between you (because the salesperson has to “buy in” to any targets set) both financial targets, and activity targets. Now these will differ from company to company, industry to industry and person to person, but generally speaking, you need to set a financial target in terms of how much money you want them to bring in (usually a per month figure) and then activity in terms of numbers of phone calls, appointments generated, appointments attended (if they’re field sales as well) quotes given, and deals won. Only when these have been set can you then compare actual performance against them. Which brings me on to my next point…..

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Tip No 4 – How Are You Going To Performance Manage Them?

If you agree the targets mentioned above and then they don’t hit them, what happens? If it happens 3 months in a row, what happens? What points below these targets do you consider “underperformance”, and what is unacceptable? How are you going to support the salesperson in achieving these targets (or not!) As soon as you take on a salesperson, to get the best out of them you need to take some responsibility for their motivation as well. No matter what you may have heard about salespeople being self-motivated, in my experience even the best aren’t completely motivated all of the time! If they aren’t working next to you all of the time, consider putting some time in the diary for weekly sales meetings, face-to-face if possible, over the phone as a minimum. In these sales meetings you want to be discussing how the salesperson is performing against the targets you have set, and what pipeline they have – how much business will be converting in the next few months for example.

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Tip No 5 – How Are You Going To Pay Them?

For most companies, the days of picking up good salespeople on a commission-only basis are over. Or certainly the ones that will stay for any length of time. The majority of salespeople expect a basic wage and uncapped commission as a minimum these days. You can sometimes get salespeople on a self-employed basis, where you pay their company for their services rather than the person themselves. More likely you will be paying the person directly as an employee, which has tax and national insurance considerations, never mind employment law and associated HR issues. The best commission schemes work on a tiered structure, where the level of commission increases the more the salesperson goes above their financial targets. As an example, 125% of target may carry a higher percentage commission, 150% a higher percentage again. If you would like any help with setting commission schemes or anything else contained in this article, contact me through the website http://www.Andy-Preston.com, using the “contact us” page and I’ll be happy to give you some ideas.

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Tip No 6 – Who Are They Going To Be Calling?

In other words, where are they going to get their prospects from? Do you have a list of prospects on your CRM system or database that you want them to contact? Are you going to purchase some data to give them some leads to work on? Or are you expecting them to generate their own? If they are a newer salesperson or they haven’t worked in your industry before, then just leaving them to generate their own might not bring the best results, at least not for a period of time. If you are giving them data, if it’s more than 3 months old, it may need cleansing first in order to make sure it’s up to date. This may also be part of the role you want them to be doing. If you’re buying the data, then make sure it’s been cleansed in the last 3 months, otherwise you’re reducing their chances of success.

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Tip No 7 – How Long Do You Want Them To Work For?

The seventh thing to consider is, how long do you want them to work for? This is an important point, especially if you’re looking for them to get more appointments for you personally. If you can only cope with a certain number of additional appointments per week, it might not make sense to employ someone on a full time basis. Perhaps someone in that role one day a week, or one day per fortnight might be sufficient? If they’re starting to make more appointments for you than you can cope with (and the quality is good) then perhaps it’s time to get them attending some as well, and bringing in a new salesperson to make appointments for both of you? Either way it’s a nice problem to have.

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Tip No 8 – How Well Do You Know The Person?

I know in some cases business owners like to employ people that they know fairly well – perhaps a friend, family member of partner? Although it can sound like a good idea in the beginning, it can also cause it’s own problems!

The more “personal” the relationship between you and the salesperson is, sometimes the more difficult it can be. Managing their underperformance can be particularly difficult, especially if they’ve been working for someone else, seen how well you’ve done, and think it will be “easier” and “less hassle” to work for you! You can virtually guarantee anyone who thinks in this fashion is going to struggle to meet your expectations and succeed in the role. So what do you do if they consistently underperform for you? If they’re costing you more money to employ than they’re bringing in? Can you see how this might be a different scenario than if it was a “normal” employee.

Consider the implications of having to “sack” a friend, family member or partner. Or if they’re your partner and the relationship comes to an end? Or if the role puts a strain on your personal relationship?

The best way to deal with the majority of these is to set the expectations in the beginning of what will lead to the business relationship ending – lack of performance against the agreed criteria. Try and separate the business relationship from the personal one as much as possible, by getting them to agree on what criteria they will be judged, and the consequences of not hitting that criteria. That makes things a whole lot easier if you’re faced with the situation of underperformance.

Remember, you’re not employing the salesperson out of “charity”, they’re supposed to be fulfilling a role for you. If the role didn’t really exist and you’ve “invented” it so that they can have a job, that’s fine, as long as you’re aware of the implications and consequences of hiring them on that basis (you paying their wage, them not necessarily doing much in return).

Follow the tips above and you’ll avoid most of the problems involved with hiring salespeople. If you’d like further help on this topic, or anything else sales-related, you can contact Andy on 0845 130 6779 or contact us here