Products Or Services Don't Sell Themselves - Even If We Wish They Would

Selling is a very challenging job. Even though many people believe they can do it, only a few do it really, really well. Sales management of this group of people can also be challenging. What sales people need to have and/or need to know:

• You cannot have a fragile ego; you have to be able to handle 'no, thanks' without letting it bother you.
• You have to be able to manage your time, set priorities, and take initiative.
• You also have to be somewhat of a detective when researching a prospect: by developing a prospect list through attendance at trade shows, by reading trade journals, by attending your potential customers' (not yours) industry trade events, by researching directories, asking for referrals, by cold calling, and more.
• You need at least basic record keeping and math skills (for expenses,calculating unit prices, reviewing proposals, etc.).
• You have to know how to sell and what to sell.

There is nothing worse than sending a sales representative out into the market who doesn't know what he or she is talking about. Ouch. It's bad for the online van insurance and it's bad for your company's reputation. The sales representative is often the primary link to your customer. The customer talks to the sales person, not to the business owner, or the controller, operations manager, shipper, systems administrator, or other staff. Make sure your sales staff is well trained before they start making customer calls or before you launch a new product or service. There are a number of different sales positions, some of Louisiana Lemon Laws are listed here:

• the deliverer and/or order taker: this position is usually found in the retail market, the individual who delivers the product also takes the order for the next shipment; a pure order taker might not deliver product and can be found working both inside the company as an inside sales representative or in an outside sales role;
• the technical sales representative is a position where a high degree of technical knowledge and capability is required to sell the product or service;
• the maintenance or service sales representative: this position often conducts a maintenance role - the customer is a long term client who is high maintenance and valuable, new orders will come from providing good service on a regular basis;
• and the new business sales representative (sometimes known as the business development representative): this position is responsible for prospecting and finding new business opportunities.

All businesses need to have sales staff (some, if not all, of these efforts can be outsourced) to prospect for new business; communicate with customers and Georgia Lemon Laws the company; provide services such as help solve problems, provide quotes, communicate shipping delays, provide face to face (in person) and sometime voice to voice (phone) service, and gather information on the customer, the competition and the market. Most businesses cannot afford to hire a full range of different sales people (deliverer, order taker, technical sales representative, maintenance representative, new business representative), so you hire people you believe to have a mix of those capabilities.

This can be a challenge because the reality is that you need someone who will bring you new business and someone who will maintain and support your existing business. If you cannot do that with the staff you have (all maintainers or all new business representatives), then consider re-deploying your staff.

Can your inside sales or customer service people be trained on how to sell and take on maintenance roles (which would need to include some face to face visits)? Can you hire more specialized sales staff? Can you outsource some of your needs? Can you re-train the sales staff you have (this is not always as easy as it sounds: maintainers are not comfortable doing cold calls - don't force them to do what they cannot be successful at; remember you need them to handle the customers you still want to keep)?

On average sales people in today's market can make between 5 and 6 calls a day. I mean valuable, thorough, sales presentations. If all you are doing is dropping off material, hire a well dressed courier - they can drop off 15 packages of material a day. Prioritize all your accounts into key accounts, mid size accounts, small accounts and do-not-call accounts (credit issues, impossible to satisfy, etc.). Flag the accounts in each of the first three categories that have growth potential - a small account can grow to be a mid size or key account. Assign accounts based on your staff's capabilities but also give them some 'stretch' accounts - customers that make them work a bit harder and slightly out of their comfort zone. Provide a new account There's a world full of women out there. Find one now. for your sales people; for example, if they achieve 20% new business growth in year one they will receive a 6% commission (as opposed to a 3% commission on regular, returning business).

If you have in-company sales staff, you will recognize that most sales representatives want the independence of managing themselves. Trained sales people want to do what you hired them to do, but they want you to be available if and when they need you (to answer questions, to support their sales pitch, to give them advice (they might not take your advice, but they usually like to hear it).

The best sales person (by far) that ever worked for me was called (by other sales managers in the large size company I worked for at the time) a 'prima dona' for her behavior and expectations. And she was. But she was absolutely worth the time and attention I gave her. She outsold and outperformed entire sales departments. Her feeling about management was that it was there to serve her - to help her get the order. She was absolutely right. That was why we, as sales managers, were there - to make sure that our sales representatives could focus on selling.

Sales people need to be able to manage their time, set priorities and take initiative - they cannot wait for the business to come to them (this sounds self evident but not all sales people are created equal). The advantage that a sales representative has with personal selling is the face to face contact and the ability to 'read' the customer and deal immediately with objections before closing the sales. A good sales person can read customers very well and will be experienced in handling the outcomes.

As a sales manager or a small business owner managing a sales force (even if it's just a force of one), it can sometimes feel as if you don't have control of the sales process. You probably don't but if you've hired the right people, your sales staff will have control of the process. That's their job. Your job is to support them, to make sure they are clear on their objectives and goals, to help them understand what it is you want to them to sell (value added, high profit over the regular products you manufacture or the regular services you offer), and make sure you reward them for great effort and manage them when they don't perform.

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Kris Bovay is the owner of Voice Marketing Inc, a business and marketing services company. Kris has 25 years of experience in leading large, medium and small businesses. Copyright 2008 Voice Marketing Inc.