If you are recruiting salespeople in the coming months, please read this!

It can save you tons of money!

So often, people tell me that recruiting salespeople is the same as for any other position. I wish this were true. Reality tells us that with this approach, it usually ends up filling seats mostly with underperformers. After six to 12 months, expectations are lagging, revenue is falling short, and disappointment kicks in. Everybody starts wondering what happened.

To better understand why it’s essential to approach the recruitment of salespeople differently than when hiring for other positions, I’ve sketched an average day of a high-performance salesperson and listed some other job-related issues.

A working day should look somewhat like this:

Get up at 05:30 - Take a shower and dress - Get coffee.

06:30: Check planning, which includes today’s task list - Check emails - Check CRM - Analyse pipeline - Review prospects – Review pending proposals to be closed - Check customer retention targets - Go over the elevator pitch, make possible adjustments - Check value proposition, adjust, rehearse

07:30: Have some breakfast.

Pick up the phone and start calling six customers and twelve prospects - Digest a lot of rejections - Hang on, don’t give up and get to speak to two customers and leave messages for the other four - Get to talk with one prospect, got an appointment, rebuffed by six secretaries and need to call back the rest.

12:30: Enjoy a healthy lunch.

13:30: Have three face to face calls with prospects and customers in the afternoon - Have two online calls with one prospect and one customer – Have a call with the direct manager for updates - At the end of the day, enter all essential activities and notes into the CRM system - Answer most emails - Complete one proposal and send - Check and prepare for the next day’s activities – follow-up on deals to be closed.

17:30: Turn off the switch and focus on the family.

Next to the above, most salespeople are responsible for a revenue from € 300.000,00 up. Naturally, this depends on what they sell. To give an idea: an Airbus industry salesperson would be doing millions per contract, whereas someone selling business gifts might be doing 300 K per year.

Remember also, most salespeople clock tens of thousands of kilometres per year.

One more aspect we need to bear in mind: being a salesperson demands being responsible for results. This responsibility includes lots of self-reflection and development and avoiding excuse-making. And last but not least, salespeople are out there, on their own, with no one to observe and give them feedback. You need a considerable amount of resilience and a sense of responsibility to do a resultful job.

Do these demands sound crazy? Not really. With the right sales skills in place, combined with high Sales DNA, use of sales technology, good motivation in place and some other attributes, successful salespeople can perform like this without losing their will to sell and still be fit at the end of the day!

The top 30% of salespeople have these traits.

The activities listed above show why it’s essential to pay close attention to these aspects when hiring salespeople. It’s not only about skills. It’s also Sales-DNA, will-to-sell, motivation, drive for success, high commitment, the ability to embrace change and sales technology and much more.

Did the above attract your attention and make you wonder how to find the right salespeople? With the right tools, approach and recruitment process, this should be possible and sometimes easier than you might guess.

Are you hiring soon? Click here to discover how we as partners of the Objective Management Group (OMG), by using their award-winning sales recruitment test, can help you select and hire the right salespeople. This test enables you to focus on the candidates that matter for the profile and avoid wasting time on candidates who do not fit your requirements or who will not sell. You save time and avoid costly hiring mistakes!

Our Sales Talent Acquisition Routine STAR recruitment process can assist you in setting up a recruitment process that will save you time, money and recruitment headaches. In the end, you will be able to find and recruit the best-performing salespeople.

Click here to reach out to me for more information by email. Book a call with me here.

You can also call me @ +31 (0)642713033

Want to sell on value instead of price? Sell to the C-level!

One of the most challenging activities for salespeople is getting appointments with C-level managers. At this level, managers are tough to approach and won't quickly agree on a meeting.

The question then arises, why would you try to get an appointment at this level. You can easier call and get an appointment with a professional buyer within the prospective organisation and try to sell.

Well, there is an excellent reason why you should consider trying: selling to C-level managers is often more sustainable because their decision-making process is different to those of professional buyers.

Why? Let's look at the differences between C-level and professional buyers.

The differences are more straightforward than we might think.

C-level managers usually make decisions based on other criteria than those of most professional buyers within organisations.

At C-level, managers often look at the following aspects:

The organisational strategy, long-term effects of the purchase, company objectives to be met, growth perspectives, competition, and the purchase fit with workers, users, influencers, etc.

At the level of professional buyers, price plays a critical role next to quality. The average buyer might have less insight into what the C-level might find important. But they are very good at negotiating price!

So, when the salesperson establishes a good understanding with the managing director or Vice President, it makes it easier to sell them on value. Afterwards, if you have to deal with procurement or purchasing, chances are, you might have a stakeholder at the top who is aware of the value you are selling.

I'll share some examples here to clarify:

1. If you are selling cybersecurity solutions, your conversation with the IT person would be about technicalities and price. With the company's CEO, your discussion would be about the risk of data leakage and its impact on public image. Guess what impact you will have.

2. Supposing you are selling healthcare products to a healthcare organisation. If you are dealing with the procurement or purchasing department, chances are their focus would be on quality and price. If you were talking to the Managing Director, you might be talking about patient's care and the impact on their convenience. If you ask the right questions, you could also focus on the working conditions of nurses and how the use of your products could impact this.

3. In a situation where you sell a diversity of (non) alcoholic beverages to restaurants chains, you would be discussing taste, assortments and type of guests. With C-level managers, you could help them grow their business, looking at strategies, customer retention, attracting new guests, etc.

In all three examples above, when talking to C-level, the long term effects and value of your offering would impact your chances for success and "stick" much better! In the end, you could end up creating a customer for life!

To become the C-level manager's most trusted advisor, you need to develop skills and mindsets that will help you discuss at the C-level. Here are some recommendations:

• Change your focus from products to solutions.

• Understand what is essential for top managers.

• Research your prospect and get under their skin and in their shoes.

• Ask (open-ended) questions conversationally and listen with your ears, nose, mouth and skin.

• Have a sales process in place and use it.

• Last advice: do not manipulate, but understand, react and offer the best solution!

Are you ready to approach managers at C-level and sell value? Would you like to know more about how to develop your sales capabilities? Contact me here or call me at +31 (0)642713033. I'm happy to assist!

P.s. in one of my next postings, I’ll tell more about how to reach C-level managers and get the appointment.

Book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/robert_peterson/30min

Please mention the subject you would like to discuss.

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