shutterstock_623168402.jpg
Managers occasionally ask me why salespeople with good skills still fail in getting the results you would expect from them. If the manager would sit and discuss customers' issues with their salesperson, they would have all the correct answers. Still, in front of the customer, their efforts would collapse. Why?
The answer to this might be more straightforward than we might think. It has to do with what we call Sales DNA. Where Sales DNA came from and how it affects sales efforts goes back to about 35 years ago.
Let us first look at how sales evolved during the last 40 years.
Many years ago, sales was a lot about talking, presenting, and convincing. In the last 40 years, things changed dramatically. Sales training brought more effective structures into sales, and it became more structured and professional. Some of these sales concepts still exist in modern history and deliver result. I remember the Xerox Sales Training system and the SPANCO concept, which stand for "Suspect, Prospect, Approach, Negotiations, Close, & Order". And, there are many, many more.
About 35 years ago, a new development made its introduction to the science of sales. The first sales dedicated assessments made it to the market and gave a more in-depth insight into the mechanism of sales, sales processes and all the factors that influence the way people sell.
It was also when the Objective Management Group's OMG introduced its sales assessments to the market. Over the years, OMG has developed its sales assessments into an instrument that includes 21 Sales Core Competencies. Of those competencies, six represent Sales DNA. These are "Doesn't Need Approval, Controls Emotions, Supportive Beliefs, Supportive Buy Cycle, Comfortable Discussing Money, and Rejection Proof".
Sales DNA has nothing to do with sales skills or product technical competencies. Sales DNA has to do with the ability to use our skills and knowledge in the best way.
So, what are the factors of Sales DNA? Here they are:
No Need for Approval: when salespeople have a strong need for Approval, which means they are sensitive to people/prospects/customers liking them, they might have challenges getting appointments when prospecting or selling and negotiating under pressure. When the communication gets tough, chances are, they cave in.
Controlling Emotions: it's about the salesperson being in control of their emotions during a sales call. This means not panicking during the sales conversation or becoming too excited when they hear what they want to hear. It also means being focussed on the situation, despite how the prospect would behave, what would happen or what they would say.
Supportive Beliefs: supportive beliefs support the selling outcome. When these beliefs are non-supportive, they sabotage the selling outcome. Here are two examples:
Supportive belief: I need to sell value.
Non-supportive belief: I need to give a discount.
Supportive Buy Cycle: This belief is about how the salesperson makes a significant purchase. There are several components: think it over, compare shop, price shop, do research, and what a lot of money means to them. There is a 100% correlation between how they buy and the behaviour they will tolerate from a prospect. That behaviour will manifest itself in stalls, put-offs and objections. The higher the Buy Cycle score, the less vulnerable the salesperson will to stalls, put-offs, think-it-overs and objections.
Discussing Money: When a salesperson is comfortable discussing money, they can go all the way in discussing the prospect's finances and what they are willing to invest. It will also support them in looking for ways and solutions to bridge gaps between what needs to be invested and what is available without being derailed by hurdles. Salespeople who score low here are much less likely to go any further than asking if there is any budget.
Rejection Proof: Handling rejection is a significant finding, especially is these pandemic times. Do be aware that this finding has always played an important role in sales. It's all about how long salespeople take to recover from rejection. And salespeople are frequently rejected. When they don't get the appointment, calls not returned, when making appointments, prospects not wanting to have a video call with them, being refused to present a proposal, and many more situations. When the salesperson is rejection proof, they suffer much less from rejection and bounce back quickly.
Conclusion: Sales DNA plays a critical role in sales. It's not easy to identify by just looking at the person, but it can be measured using the right tools. By doing so, organizations avoid losses of business by helping salespeople to develop and improve their effectiveness in growing their business significantly.
The OMG sales assessments are applied to improve sales performance significantly by evaluating sales teams, sales managers and sales leaders. The tool is ideal when recruiting salespeople and sales managers. It and turns your recruitment into a successful story! And with a predictive validity of 92%, it substantially reduces the risk of hiring non-performing candidates!
We are the longest-serving OMG partner in Europe. I want to invite you for a chat that will give you insights into how to increase your sales team's performance significantly.
If you want to know more, please contact me at robert@peterson-company.com or +31 (0)642713033.