Gil Cargill ( http://www.gilcargill.com ) flew in from Los Angeles last week and conducted a “Sales Training” workshop to 2 dozen Austin owners, presidents and CEOs. Members rated him 4.6 on content and delivery out of 5. If you are dissatisfied with your YTD sales performance, sales process and/or your hiring process here are a few nuggets that if you aren’t doing or measuring you might consider implementing for the balance of 2011. Here’s a few statistics that got my attention, yes …figure’s lie and liars figure… yet the thought is compelling.

91% of deals don’t close as expected

85% of companies don’t have a documented sales process

51% of sales people missed quota last year

85% have no documented plan

73% have no plan for their top 5 accounts

What I liked about his approach was the down to earth “tired and proven” approach to sales training. Example and 1^st KPI (Key Performance Indicator) when going through the interview process have the candidate present his or her telling session to you. Stop them if they start out with …I normally start with… have them see you as a prospect and ask them to do what they are currently doing now. Have them come back and sell you on their current product or service. Gill says and I agree it’s a great way to see actual performance you can expect when and if he or she goes to work for you.

The 2^nd KPI is to start immediately and measure weekly “1^st meetings”. Excellent metric on making sure out bound prospecting is being done to the level needed to gain new customers and new sales. Have sales team set their weekly goals and you as the owner, sales manager chart, post and/or send weekly updates. Create a sense of urgency suggests to your sales team that what they say and commit to will be measured.

That which gets measured, gets managed and that which gets managed gets done.

 

3^rd KPI is determining where is your sweet spot, who is your preferred client and asking current customers why do they buy from you verifies or validates your brand promise and customer satisfaction. This is your role as a small business owner, president or CEO. Go see your top 5 clients, exchange your contact information and let them know they have a direct line to you if your brand promise isn’t meeting their expectations.

Here’s a short list of other critical success factors focused on activity for you and your sales team to be measuring:

• # of New contacts
• # of targets
• # of customer site visits
• # of deals & dollars at Info phase
• # of deals & dollars at decision point
• # of deals & dollars closed
• Average sales cycle duration
• Mile stones accomplished
• # of proposal presentations
• # of current accounts visited
• # of orders closed

Gil shared that sales is not a contact sport it is about relationships. If you believe this to be true for you and your company then here’s what Rick L’Amie, president of Moxie Marketing http://getmoxiemarketing.com/and a Vistage Trusted Advisor suggested to me last month when discussing “relationship selling”.

You want the prospect to get to know you and you them

You want the prospect to like you and you them

Then and only then will trust take place

…between them and you

In closing, today our suspect, prospect, client or customer is far more knowledgeable, better read and most if not all have access to search engines on the internet. By creating weekly, monthly, 100 day targets or milestones, measuring activity, and working to improve your process how can you not become more successful, more profitable with a better life balance?

Last week at our monthly CEO meeting, one of my members asked if anyone in the room ever felt their team was at war. Do you see Individual members having their filters on and that little to no agreement was possible unless a compromise took place. If so, my sense there is a lack of trust in the room. Hidden agendas or egos were over riding and driving the direction of the meeting or team. The outcome would be counterproductive and the resulting direction would not achieve stated goals. My question to you, wouldn’t it be worthwhile or meaningful to align themselves with the team’s objective or your company vision first.

If you are disappointed with your Q1 performance or still looking for the right direction in 2011, “Alignment vs. Agreement” is a very compelling conversation you need to have with yourself and your team if you want to reach and exceed team or company expectations this year.

When high wire acrobats clasp their hands, they each commit to giving 100% by connecting to the wrist of their partner, thus each have closed the connection by having their hands and wrists locked together. There is a shared understanding that this approach has a better result or outcome vs. hands grasping for hands.

Focusing on alignment enables the team to move in a way that develops in the right direction while lack of agreement requires a compromise and/or a negotiated middle ground. Feelings are hurt, someone wins and someone loses. High performing teams move in a direction with mutual respect and shared understanding. High performing teams create a coordinated action and move in a way members anticipate.

If your direct reports are over promising and under producing look first toward alignment of your team or company objectives and/or goals then set “make or break” weekly measureable activity targets with stated goals and due dates. Identify who has ownership and milestone completion dates that are time sensitive. No chain is stronger than the weakest link.

In closing, Jack Welch’s 4 quadrant grid sums up this internal company issue. Upper right (H/H) are your stars and/ your 5’s. Alignment is to company, team, and your goals. They are self-starters, over achievers and someone you know, like and trust. Upper left (H/L) are what I will call your puppies or your 4’s because their aptitude, alignment to company goals and your vision are “spot” on. They have lots of potential and need nurturing and personal growth and development to reach and exceed performance targets. Encourage mentoring by your stars to help you develop your puppies. Lower right (L/H) are your terrorists and cancer to team cohesiveness and your stated company goals. They may be your 4’s due to production or performance yet are not team players. These are probably overachievers, individualists and someone that needs to align themselves to your stated team objectives, vision and company goals. They need to be managed toward upper right or managed out. The lower left (L/L) are what I will call dogs, your “C” players and in this date and time need to be managed out.

I have been following Robert Whipple as of late http://thetrustambassador.com/ and I encourage to open this link and read his recent article on Three Tricky Questions About Trust.