It’s pretty hard to dispute the fact that many salespeople end up in their career path haphazardly.  Maybe the individual did not like the daily tasks and routine of back office positions, maybe he or she knew a company’s product well from working there for years and slipped into a sales role, or maybe they were told – you have a great personality, you should be in sales and they tried it.

In that type of scenario is it any wonder why companies go through sales people so quickly and three to six months after starting we see salespeople walking out of the company building for the last time because you name it– they were not “built” for sales, they did not try hard enough, or they just weren’t a fit.  Believe me I know the stories because many of my friends that went into sales after college ended up in the “bone yard”.

So why is it that sales is such a legendary field to be in.  To be a sales super-star in a company is to be known throughout the organization almost as well as the company’s mission statement.  While what I am going to outline in the next few pages is not designed to make super-stars, it is designed to give those new sales people you bring on a real shot at becoming a sales professional – instead of banging their heads against the wall and throwing in the towel at three to six months.  In the following paragraphs I am going to speak about eleven different areas I see lacking in new reps experience and understanding.  If your reps have all these tools and sources of knowledge available then there is not much you can do for them – I find that they often don’t.  It’s one thing to let a salesperson go after giving them the tools and skills they need to succeed.  It’s another to show them a desk and a phone and fire them three months later because they couldn’t handle sales.

One:  Business tomorrow starts today…

The first area I want to touch on is the psychological aspect of developing business.  Sales people have to know that in order to reap the rewards of tomorrow you have got to put in the work today.  So many times I hear the usual whining about months three and four being slow and the constant complaining.  I often wonder what these reps were doing for prospecting activities in month one and two.  I’ve closed sales in which the initial contact was two years previous but if I did not put in the work two years earlier I would not have reaped the benefits of a commission check, business associate and referral.  New reps have got to understand that the time and energy that they put in today will pay off – maybe not right away but it will come back to them in some form in the future.  You have got to lay the foundation before you can build the house.

Two:  If nothing has a priority everything is a priority

Your reps day has to be structured.  You need your new sales people to start off with the correct habits from the beginning.  There should be specific times set for business development and times set for other non-business development activities like answering emails and voicemails or putting out “fires” and formulating reports.  Do not let them figure it out on their own, so they are pros eight years after being in the business.  To  getting appointments and sales closings consistently they have to put in a consistent effort.  If your reps are taken off track even one day they will be discouraged in the future when you review their pipeline and it is sparse because “other things” took up their time instead of getting on the phone and making calls to perspective clients or new clients seeking a referral source. Your reps number one responsibility is to develop more business, and if it is not, give them a new title and stop hammering them on quota.

Three:  Sales pay for paychecks…

Sales bring in revenue and that’s how everyone gets paid.  As a new salesperson your reps have to know how vitally important they are to the organization.  It seems like every time I read a magazine or newspaper article sales people are presented negatively.  What is that all about?  Revenue is the lifeblood of a company and without sales coming through the door there is no blood pumping through the body.  I know you have heard it before but nothing happens until a sale is made and your new reps need to know that.

Four:  They’re not there to relax…

Don’t eat the chicken and drink the beer.  When your new sales reps are out at a conference or networking event do they know what they are there for?  If they want to make it in the sales game, first they have to know that they are not there for the free chicken and beer, and secondly they have to know how to work the event.  Time and time again I see new reps get frustrated because “there just wasn’t any business there” or “I guess they just aren’t interested – maybe I am not selling the right thing.”  Again we have a rep who could be successful if he or she had some direction and business development skills.  Reps need to know, at the very least, the answers to these questions: Who is going to be at the event?  Who is going to speak at the event?  What is the action plan for the event?  How do I define a successful event?  These are just a few of the important aspects that have to be taken into consideration before even stepping into the room the event is held.  Let’s look into just one of these questions and its impact – knowing who the keynote speaker is.  Why would you want to know who the speaker is? Well if they are speaking at the event you can be sure they have the right connections and know a lot of people.  That would be a good person to connect with, right?  Here is another hint, keynotes are typically business owners or executives and could make a buying decision in the future in regards to your product.  Lastly, people who give speeches at the event “get it” because they know how valuable speaking in front of an interested audience is and those people in business who get it are the ones you want to connect with

Five:  Who cares..

What your new sales people have to begin to understand when cold calling is “who cares”.  Who cares if the person on the other end is not interested? Who cares if they hang up?  Who cares if they yell?  Most of the time those people are the ones so frustrated about their current business situation or life that your reps and your company will not want to do business with them anyways.  I once heard that to get good at something you don’t like just keep doing it over and over and over and over until it does not bother you anymore and eventually becomes a strength.  How valuable is a fearless rep with cold calling skills?  It is painful to watch but fear can paralyze new reps or even veteran reps when cold calling.  I remember making my first cold call.  My heart was pounding and I thought the person on the other end was going to pick up the phone and start yelling.  Is it any wonder why salespeople fear this channel to develop business?  Every time someone gets cold called at home people start swearing at the phone.  New reps should keep their dials up to more than average until they get the fear out of the call, at least most of the fear.  It’s always okay to still get a little excited / uneasy about making a call – as long as they make it – consistently

Six: Where do they start..

Making calls and minimizing fear is the psychological aspect of dialing.  The other aspect that needs to be addressed is where does the salesperson start.  Do they have a list?  Is the list new?  Are accounts already being called on?  What types of clients are being targeted?  We have all seen the top 10% sit down and just pick up a box of business cards or a list of random phone numbers and somehow they just seem to make connections and find a deal.  The thing is that the other 90% of new sales people need direction.  They need a plan or at least the knowledge and skills to seek out and find prospecting info such as phone numbers, addresses, company sizes, the number of employees and revenues.  Giving new reps the phone book is not going to cut it in today’s highly competitive market

Seven:  Call again, and again, and again…

Don’t call and leave a message and never call back.  The chances that someone will pick up the phone and call your salespeople back even if they are interested are little to none.  A direct quote from an executive at a one billion dollar company that I dialed and emailed multiple times was, “ If what you are calling me about is not important enough for you to follow up on and call me again, then it must not be important enough for me to meet with you and talk about.”  Your reps need to understand the importance structured call activity to each prospect they dial on.  For me it is between seven and ten communications and then a judgment call as to what to do with the prospect if I have not connected. I call them communications because it is a combination of a letter(s), phone call(s), voicemail(s), and email(s).  Sometimes I even send out something creative like the time I sent an executive VP a plastic cell phone with a note.  He loved it and called the next day after being unable to connect with him for over a month.  Either way each communication to a prospect should be noted and tracked in order to avoid leaving the same message or sending the same email twice.  When you track each communication you can begin to see trends as to where in the process you are connecting with prospects and at any point in time you know how many times you have tried to reach them.

Eight:  Referrals are the source…

Once you get a new client, keep them, and see who they know that may need your service.  Another big mistake I see in new sales people is the fact that they do not leverage the new clients they finally close business with.  It is hard for new reps to realize the power of a referral until they receive one and the sales cycle with the referral is a third of the time it took to get the new client from scratch.  The closing of the sale is not only a great time because of the close, but because of the business contact and relationship you have made with the client who is trusting you with their money.  New reps have to make the most of the time and energy they have put into that deal and see if there is a referral available.  If the rep understands that part of sales, asking for referral business, they are way ahead of others in the game, but still only part of the way to true success.

Nine:  Get more referrals…

Maximizing referral business is more than just asking for a name.  It comes when you arm your reps with a referral tool.  What is this tool?  It is the layout of communications that your rep will use when connecting with the referred business contact.  Have you ever been pressured by a sleazy so called sales person into giving a referral source?  If so it probably was either a fake referral or lousy referral so he or she would get off your back.  Now what if a respected salesperson presented to you a sheet that listed each communication they would make to the referral you provided and which steps they would contact you to let you know if the referral came on board as a client?  Wouldn’t you feel much more comfortable supplying that salesperson with a quality referral?  Luckily, when I started at Street Smart I had such a tool available to me and your new reps will be much more successful if they do too.

Ten:  Get used to public speaking…

One of the ironic things that I learned as I started my sales career out of college was one of the classes that so many college grads take as a “blow off” is one of the most important tools needed in sales and business development.  That class was public speaking.  New reps do not understand how important public speaking skills can be when trying to create business.  You can always watch what successful people do to get an understanding of how to become successful yourself.  If you watch successful business owners and executives you will notice that they often speak at conferences and events to help promote their companies and products.  As salespeople your reps have to do the same thing.  Whether they are speaking at an industry event, or local association, sourcing speaking engagements in front of people who either use their product or services, or work with others who use their products or services, speaking in front of groups is a huge source of business.  Not only is there the potential to find business within the group, but as the speaker, the salesperson becomes a credible source of information and seen as the “go to” person for the product or service they offer.

Eleven:  The struggle is not forever…

When your reps start in their careers in sales it’s going to be tough.  The energy and time needed to get their pipeline full and churning out deals is exhaustive.  The good news is that once the process starts gaining traction it gets a bit easier.  Not easy, but easier.  People start referring their name to others and the reps will be receiving calls out of the blue.  Their current clients will reorder or need something extra.  Those clients get comfortable with the rep and start working in more of a win – win scenario rather than a relationship of mistrust.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel and they have to envision it.

Some reps still won’t make it…

Of course with some people, no matter how much guidance, direction, or tools you give them, they will not be successful in sales.  That’s ok.  Now that you have given them everything they need to be successful, you can let them go, not feel bad about it, and know that they are not going to make it in sales.  However, if you do not give them those tools and the knowledge, they might be capable of being great in sales, and the next person who picks them up and shows them what to do, might have a successful rep.  And that successful rep is going to try twice as hard to steal your business from perspective clients because you’re the one who fired him or her.