A Common Dilemma In a discussion about sales strategy and training with a large, national company executive last week, I learned that they are struggling with a VERY difficult decision - They are trying to decide which direction to go with their sales training, and consequently, with their sales and sales management strategy.
Do they make the commitment to go with a sales strategy and related training that focuses on implementing a highly-structured process? Or do with they go the "other direction" and go with a sales training and implementation methodology that focuses primarily on "relationship skills?" (People) He said, "We're looking for the next great sales idea.
We've spoken with all of the big-name sales training organizations out there, and those discussions have led to a major debate as we try to make our selection: One group makes a VERY persuasive argument for implementing a very structured selling process that leads to strategic account development, along with the implementation of a strong system of performance controls and measurements.
The other camp makes an equally persuasive argument for teaching our people all about establishing, building, and leveraging relationships.
Frankly, we're stuck at a crossroads - Which way do we go? This is a HUGE decision, because the choice we make here will require a major commitment of time, money, and resources; and we just can't afford to make a mistake.
Which of these organizations is right? And are these really the only options we have? Aren't there any new GREAT SALES IDEAS out there? What are your thoughts?" The Youthful "Right" Answer Over the past twenty-five years, as a business-to-business sales professional, senior manager, trainer and performance coach, I've been involved in this "great debate" more times than I can remember - On both sides of the decision - Buyer and seller.
When I was a young, full of fire sales manager that knew everything there was to know about sales and sales management, I had a VERY strong opinion about this issue.
(Why is it that when we're young, we know EVERYTHING; and as we get older we "KNOW" less and less?) Process During my first several years in sales and sales management, I was absolutely convinced that PROCESS was the answer.
If you mastered the process, then you WOULD be successful in sales.
I remember, with chagrin, one conversation I had with a senior executive in my firm that was trying to give me some coaching about my approach.
She said, "You know Jim, you've had some turnover in your sales team, and your capture rate (your closing rate) is lower than it could be if you softened your approach a bit, and paid a little more attention to people's feelings, and could be a bit more patient with people who aren't as fast-paced as you.
You are pretty direct and hard-core, and your force of personality sometimes blows people away.
" My arrogant response was, "You know Jane, I'm the top-producing salesperson in the organization, and my team is the top-producing team in the company.
We out-produce every other team by at least 40%.
If everyone else could learn the process as well as I have, and if they could pick up their pace to match mine, then maybe they could come a little closer to our performance.
And you know, I just don't have time to waste on the feeling stuff - I have sales to make.
And, even though my closing rate is lower, percentage-wise, than some others, I have personally out-performed every other salesperson in the company by fifty percent.
Thanks for the input, but the process is what it's all about.
" Just a bit defensive and arrogant, huh? Well, my excuse is that I was simply following our leader.
I was trained in the process by a very successful salesman/sales trainer, and I learned everything he taught, and committed to doing exactly what he taught, to the letter.
My focus on process was further reinforced by a GREAT book and training series by Miller Heiman, Strategic Selling.
Strategic Selling provided terrific insight into the world of business-to-business selling; and provided a structured framework for high-performance business sales.
I had learned a basic, structured approach, but was a bit unpolished.
Miller Heiman really captured the business to business sales process, in its entirety.
This approach was logical, highly-structured, measurable, and VERY professional.
I must have read the book ten times, and went through three or four Strategic Selling workshops and/or lectures.
I did my very best to implement everything they taught, and this approach helped to "supercharge" my selling and sales management career.
When asked to provide a list of "essential works on sales," Strategic Selling has always been at the top of my list.
I highly-recommend the book, and the training to everyone who wants to build a successful career in business to business sales.
GREAT INFORMATION.
People Mastery of the process helped take me to a very high level of performance, but I begun to realize that maybe, just maybe, the executive who had offered the insightful coaching earlier in my career was right.
Feelings, relationships, and patience were a huge part of selling.
Sounds really simple, but I was a competitive, hard-charging, direct, and very impatient salesperson.
Combine that personality style with a healthy dose of immaturity, and you have a formula for success in sales, but a somewhat tough, hard core, non-empathetic sales management style.
I THOUGHT that sales was a profession that required a "thick skin" and a focused, objectives-driven approach.
Experience and emotional maturity bring insight (hopefully).
In my case, several thousand sales calls, and countless management interactions, meetings, lectures & workshops, and lots of great books on sales, interpersonal communication, negotiation, persuasion theory, and management finally led to the insight that process alone just wasn't enough to be REALLY successful.
One book, in particular, provided wonderful insight into sales, negotiation, and interpersonal relationships: Getting to Yes, by Roger Fisher and William Ury.
The central theme of the book is "Principled Negotiation.
" Fisher and Ury defined negotiation as (paraphrased) as, "...
a back and forth communication process designed to produce agreements between two or more people who have some interests that are shared, and others that are opposed.
" They pointed out further that we negotiate all of the time, that negotiation, in fact, is the most common form of interpersonal communication.
They point out that "Principled Negotiation" is a "win-win" negotiation that is "Hard on the problem, and soft on the people.
" They taught that successful negotiators move negotiation away from being a competitive, win-lose proposition to a collaborative, problem-solving process that resolves issues while preserving relationships.
This incredible book on negotiation finally crystallized my thinking about what the profession of sales was really all about.
It is a process designed to produce agreements between selling and buying entities.
I began to feel that salespeople are really "corporate diplomats.
" Our job is to find ways for selling organizations to help purchasing organizations solve problems.
And, mastery of the process, along with mastery of communication and listening learning create real success in professional selling.
At this point I became very interested in learning about how people communicate, how to understand other people, and how to become a problem-solving partner with my clients - and by extension with the salespeople that worked for me, and with the staff of non-selling departments in the organizations with which I worked.
The "Essential Books and Courses" I added to my educational experience included some terrific books and classes: Communicating for Results, by Charyl Hamilton (THE college text on interpersonal communication), Xerox's "Cause for Listening" an incredible book and workshop on business communication; Wilson Learning's "Counselor Selling" (Which was THE definitive work on consultative selling); and then IBM's Solution-Oriented Selling (the best approach to business-to-business selling I'd ever learned); and ultimately SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham.
Of these, Communicating for Results (Book), Counselor Selling, and SPIN Selling are all available and still being taught.
I recommend all three for anyone who wants to master the art and science of selling.
And finally, probably THE most important education I've ever acquired is the study of PERSONALITY STYLES.
I've received my certification in DISC, the four quadrant behavioral model based on the work of William Moulton Marston, several workshops on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and a "Masters Certification" in Professional Dynametric Programs, Inc.
's various psychometric assessment tools.
What I've come to understand is that we're all born with different ways of understanding the world, of processing information, of making decisions, and different ways of communicating with others.
In other words, with different personality styles.
And that we are "hard-wired" at birth with our personality styles, which means that there are no "good" personality styles; there are no "bad" personality styles; there are just DIFFERENT personality styles.
And, if we can learn to suspend our own egos, and learn to communicate with others in their style, we can learn to get along with practically anyone.
In studying personality styles for the past twenty years, I've come to realize that understanding and acceptance comprise the foundation of all relationships.
If we can understand the other person, and if we can accept that their style of communication, information processing, and decision-making are hard-wired, then we are far better prepared to become "solution-oriented" business partners with our clients; and far more effective, because we will be able to work closely with our clients to fully define the business problems, which leads to the building of the right solution.
Answering the Question So, the answer to the question posed by my associate, "Which approach is the right way to go? Do we focus on Process or People?" The answer is BOTH.
Salespeople have to know the process.
They have to understand how to develop their territories.
They have to learn how to build an account development strategy, and how to maximize the potential of each account.
They have to learn to forecast and measure performance.
AND, they have to understand how to facilitate the communication process - how to lead the discovery and problem definition discussions.
They have to learn how to communicate sometimes complex business concepts effectively, and in commonly understandable ways to their clients - at all different levels of the client organizations, and of all different personality styles.
So sales is a multi-disciplinary profession.
Great salespeople have a thirst for learning.
They must constantly seek out and participate in new learning opportunities.
Mastering both the process AND the people skills that drive sales success is a difficult, but very rewarding, ongoing pursuit.
For me, it's been an endlessly fascinating "road trip".
It's a profession that doesn't allow you to ever achieve perfection - but the pursuit of excellence (Thank you Tom Peters), is a compelling, endlessly interesting endeavor.
I'll be writing more articles on the subject, but for now, thanks for reading, and best wishes to you as you work on your professional development.
Feel free to check out my blog for more.
Jim Carpenter http://blog.
jimcarpenteronline.
com/