1. The Goal
No
matter who you are, you answer to someone. Sales Managers answer to their
Director or Vice President of Sales. They are measured on Revenue Growth
or Quota Attainment of a Revenue figure set somewhat arbitrarily by the company
based upon prior history and growth goals of the company.
My
theory is to take the goal and double it. Goal x $REV = Quota (X).
My team's goal = 2X.
State
the goal publicly prior to every meeting AS A FACT. I had a manager who
did this every month for nine months. On the ninth month, we hit the
goal. Assuming the goal is a fact enables us to create the impression that
we are there and the team behaves in that regard. A "winning"
team attitude can help us reach our goal sooner.
2. The Players
We
need know who we have on our team. We can classify salespeople many
ways. I use the following terminology (note: these players may be
male or female and the use of gender is not meant to be exclusive):
a. Ice Man (The STAR - always above quota- man can also be WOman!) - they are always above quota -
cool as ICE!
b. Maverick (Peak & Valleys) - treat these people differently than
others.
c. The Cogs (always 100%) - The Cog In the Wheel - It stops spinning
without them.
d. Goose (80 - 120%) - Hunts Chickens rather than Elephants
e. Hollywood (40 - 80%) - These are the future wannabe Stars, Mavericks
& Cogs.
f. Failures - (0 - 100%) - survive on salary guarantees. Last 6
months or less. Usually chases "greased pigs" (type of deal -
see Concepts
article relating to this)
(Note:
some of these terms may be taken from Paramount's Movie "Top Gun" - no
correlation is intended. However, trademarks may be property of Paramount
Studios.)
Ok,
now that we know who the players are. The Star loves the glory and is
extremely competitive - but can be a nice guy if you've proven yourself a winner
to them. The Maverick and Hollywood are most challenging. Mavericks
are sometimes disguised as Mavericks but really Primadonna's in disguise.
Primadonna's are Hollywoods who act like Mavericks. Maverick is the
showoff - loves the glory. However, Maverick's head has to be in the
game. If it isn't, Maverick doesn't get up in the morning, shows up late,
and doesn't care about your strategy sessions. They'll only put in 60% of
the effort to succeed and; therefore, if left to their devices, they might even
fail - despite having all the talent in the world.
How
do we treat Maverick? Maverick must be treated as a special player on the
team, given recognition for their talent, shown how they can break the rules -
fairly, but without making a complete jerk of themselves in the process.
Maverick must be allowed to bend rules. Maverick must also be given
special privileges not typically given to salespeople. Maverick is in it
for the high, the feeling of winning, the challenge of doing something they
haven't done before. Challenge them. You can yell at them. You
can tell them they're a jerk. They'll often laugh it off. But don't
throw the rule book at them and tell them they're going to get fired because
that will only make them upset and they'll leave the team. You cannot ever
question Maverick's loyalty, because, when you do Maverick will question YOUR
loyalty. Manage Maverick by challenging them, setting the goal,
establishing ways to get it done, and then get out of the way.
Now,
Cogs must be treated fairly and given regular strokes. Cogs may be hunters
or farmers in their approach to selling. Don't box them in but stay close
with them. It is important to communicate clearly with Cogs and let them
know they are valued.
As
for Goose, Goose must be paired with Maverick if at all
possible. Goose, left on his or her own, may flounder or bring
in less than satisfactory results. Goose, paired off with Maverick, will
make Maverick more productive and fuel Maverick's success by taking care of the
details and making sure Maverick stays in line with expectations. Goose is a
people person and is usually a very good networking person. Goose's
strengths enable Maverick to stay in close contact with clients through Goose
but continue to be focused on new business and maintain Maverick's hunter attitude.
Hollywood
is an easier salesperson than Maverick to manage - only because they simply need
more training, most often. They are often not students of the trade;
however, and this can be their demise. They must be encouraged to learn,
then get out of their head and go sell. If they are required to do a lot
of reports, Hollywood will get bogged down and quickly frustrated. Often,
Hollywood is made to feel like a Failure and leaves sales before fully
understanding they could have made it. If only managers would recognize a
process to truly motivate the Mavericks and Hollywoods (it also works for the
rest of the bunch). One way to better motivate Hollywood is to partner
them with Ice Man. This helps Hollywood become your next star performer.
2. The Process
I
believe in creating a winning team using the SFST process:
1.
Create an atmosphere of SUCCESS.
a. Set the goal
b. Encourage through positive motivation
c. Recognize small victories
2.
Create an atmosphere of FUN.
a. People work harder when they are having fun.
b. By fun, I don't mean contests - these should be used very sparingly and
carefully.
c. Fun can be in sales meetings, presentations, events such as foozball or
billiards.
d. Fun can be golf with customers, boating trips with customers, sporting
events.
e. Fun can be dressing up in theme or going to offsite retreats to think
of new ideas.
3.
Create a strong SUPPORT infrastructure of TEAMWORK.
a. Inside sales maps to outside sales.
b. Technical or specialist teams with outside sales for technical work.
c. Implementation and Account managers team with outside sales and inside
sales.
d. Operations and sales cross-represent functional teams.
e. Upper management/executives support outside sales as part of their
focus.
Note:
(most companies do not utilize operations/sales cross team representation and
this oversight creates US vs. THEM problems - Sales vs. Ops has been a problem
in over half of the companies I've personally worked for to some extent and it
is my belief we could change this by having a sales representative in
operations meetings and operations people in sales meetings).
Creating
the proper environment does not include telling people what to do. It is
like my brother, an English Teacher, used
to tell me: SHOW, don't TELL. As in English, so in management.
If we want our team to do something, we must show them how they can do it.
I notice salespeople respond better to support and positive motivation yet have
seen many managers "manage" their team through fear, number-based
activity management, and trickery or intimidation. None of tactics are
successful over the long-haul and they do not breed better employees. By
treating people ethically, with integrity, as we would want to be treated in
their shoes, we can build better teams.
Scott
Andrews is CEO and Founder of AspireNow (www.AspireNow.com),
a leading business productivity and personal development firm based in
California. AspireNow helps organizations launch new products and
services, maximize sales, and innovatively change businesses through
cutting-edge and empowering business models and processes. For more
information, contact Scott@AspireNow.com,
or visit http://www.AspireNow.com.
