What Lies Beneath

Looking beyond the numbers at Sales Team Performance

In a precarious economy where many businesses hang in the balance, at the mercy of the credit crunch and with the future uncertain, it is more vital than ever to ensure your business boasts the very best sales force. You need to push ahead of your competitors, aiming not just to meet but exceed your full potential to generate revenue. You have to go further.

So it comes as a surprise that many Sales Leaders and Business Managers don’t actually have a clear idea of how their sales teams are performing. Targets are being reached, and everything -on the surface at least- appears to be going smoothly. But what really lies beneath the numbers?

Why aren’t Targets Enough?

Sales targets signify the end result of the sales process: the final goal, the ultimate destination. What they don’t manage to explore are the different stages of the sales process or whether that result really is the best your team could have achieved. When considering performance, it’s worth looking beyond the final figures, and asking a few questions.

• Are your sales team simply continuing to meet targets solely through repeat clients, rather than reaching a healthy balance of new business?
• Are they confident in knowing how to go to market- where to source the best clients, how to pitch, what to sell?
• Are the team getting the most out of a sale? Are they aware of the negotiation variables, where to compromise?
• Are they motivated to utilise their time and go beyond what’s expected of them? To not merely sail leisurely towards targets, but to race beyond them?

If you can’t answer any of the above with absolute confidence, then perhaps it’s time to perform that long-overdue sales audit. Because it’s clear that targets alone don’t even begin to scratch the surface of sales performance.

Assessment in Practice

The process of auditing, assessing and then subsequently training, structuring and accrediting your Sales Team can delve right down to the bones of sales performance, finding the cracks targets alone frequently miss. As a vital health check for your business, it should never be regarded as a one-off, isolated process. Managed successfully, it can be the key to continued growth and development, even in a marketplace that offers little scope for progression. At a more basic level, it can prevent your business from crashing at a time when you are most dependent upon the Sales Team to keep you afloat.

How? Well, it will help you and your business to:

• Identify, attract and retain talent: do you have the sales stars you need to ensure success for the future of your business?

• Boost skills and expertise: your existing sales team may be performing well, but could they do even better?
• Stop the rot: perhaps you aren’t floundering or failing yet, but beneath the surface of your sales team, are issues beginning to take root and inhibit further progression?

Time to Resuscitate!

One of the greatest shortcomings of the Sales Profession is its lack of external regulation and assessment. In other professionally recognized and respected industries – let’s take surgery as an example - you would not only undergo a minimum of 10 years of training and assessment in order to qualify for the profession, but would continue to face further assessment and training for the duration of your career. You have to remain ahead of new developments, continually demonstrate your skills and pass rigorous assessment to ensure you are performing to the very best of your ability, without risking the lives of those in your care.

No such safety net exists in the world of Sales. Perhaps we are not responsible for the lives of others- but it may be argued that sales are the most fundamental, vital part of your business. Without good sales people, you don’t get sales. Without sales, you won’t generate profits. And without profits- you don’t have a business. So, with the life of your business at stake: shouldn’t an objective annual competency assessment be an integral part of your safe journey to success?  

Does a master’s degree add value and make a graduate stand out in a tough market

For many graduates they believe that everything used to be easy, you did you’re A levels, went to university and then kicked off your career in a graduate job. Yet the belief now is that a degree isn’t enough these days during a tough economic climate.

There are a lot of stories of graduates trying to stand out from the crowd, creating a website to advertise themselves or donning a sandwich board on Fleet Street advertising their availability for a job. Yet there are an increasing number of graduates who are aiming to increase their chances of obtaining a graduate job by obtaining a master’s degree.

There has been a large increase in taught master’s courses according to a report by the Times Higher Education. Employers are taking note of graduates that have completed postgraduate qualifications and taking on internships to up the ante.

Currently many graduates are taking on internships to improve their employability skills and gain valuable work experience that employers look for as competition for jobs is high.

It is often misleading that the value of a masters increases a graduates chances of obtaining a graduate job. Many job openings specify the need to be educated to degree level, and the expense and time out of the workplace of obtaining a Masters can be a risky option if they are hoping to recoup the cost through potential salary. It is an added benefit to both the employer and employee, yet it isn’t something that is recognised as a way of increasing remuneration.

Hannah Slaney is graduate programme manager at the UK’s mutually-owned financial and retail conglomerate, the Co-operative Group. “I have had people come up to me at careers fairs who ask what opportunities I have for people with graduate degrees,” she says. “Unfortunately I can only point them to the graduate recruitment program.”

“MBA or Masters graduates apply, but more so those with bachelor’s degrees,” said a senior manager in an international IT services firm, quoted in a UK report, ‘Talent Fishing: What Businesses Want from Postgraduates’.  “We don’t see any difference in what they do in the company generally speaking. They are paid the same. But there is a slight difference in maturity, and they can handle the ups and downs of business life better.”

It is different with many employers, however if you read the above report, it goes on to highlight what benefits a master’s degree can provide an employer. Nine out of ten employers who recruited master’s holders liked their analytical and problem solving skills, subject specific knowledge, their technical skills and their innovative attitudes towards new ideas. They employers also believed that they were mature as well as having future leadership potential.

5 simple tips to help you stand out from the crowd and get recruited quicker

It’s hard enough getting noticed in the crowded market place, but if you’re not maximising your chances to be found it’s even harder here are a few simple tips to help you get found.

1.       Ensure your CV can be found

You’ve got your CV polished to perfection and your 100% happy with it, great, now what? Well it’s time to get your CV found, search out the major job boards, Jobsite, Reed, Pareto (that’s ours ;)) add your CV, and make sure its searchable, this will ensure recruiters can easily find you and you don’t just rely on your own applications.

2.       Always include those contact details

Always include a contact phone number and email, a phone number is really important as often businesses and recruiters won’t have the time to email people and wait for a response, so they will want to have a conversation. Anything that puts up a barrier doesn’t help your chances of getting a job and you will often be overlooked despite an otherwise dazzling CV. Oh and if you think you won’t be around or are unable to take a call, ensure you have a professional answer phone, nothing can turn off a recruiter quicker than an unprofessional voicemail.

3.       Prepare for those calls

Ensure you know your CV and everything on it, get yourself a quick reference list of key achievements and even potential weaknesses this is especially useful if you get caught off guard by a call.

4.       On the call

You’ve been called by a recruiter, first of all, relax no one is trying to catch you out, they just want to have a brief chat and get an idea about you and if you are interested. It goes without saying but obviously be friendly, ask questions find out about the role and if you would be interested (no point wasting yours or their time!), get more details or ask for them to send you an email with more details to look at. If they arrange a call back interview be punctual (i.e. answer the call!) and be prepared.

5. Interview/Assessment day

So you’ve made it to the interview or assessment day, excellent! Well hopefully you’ve been fully prepared by the recruiter for the day, if you have to do a presentation, ensure you practice, they will be able to tell if you haven’t.

If you know the company, ensure your research has been thorough, that’s more than just the front page of the site! Have an idea what they do, who their customers are if possible, what they’ve done and what they are doing now, doing this shows you care enough to learn about them and what they do and will come across well.

Finally For the interview/assessment day ensure you arrive punctually but not too early, there is nothing wrong with being keen but turning up too early can be distracting for the people that are holding the interview/assessment and additionally you may have to wait awhile! 15/20 minutes is almost universally acceptable. 

For Assessment days be keen, be energetic and most of all get involved, it's your chance to show how well you can communicate with others and how you can build rapport quickly, show your best qualities off!

These are just a few very simple tips for getting recruited quicker, hopefully they’ve helped. If you have any tips of your own please add them in the comments. Thanks!

Things to avoid when the deal is done

You can do so well in a sales meeting and obtain the deal, but then you suddenly ruin it at the last hurdle. Many sales professionals can be brilliant during the whole sales process, exhibiting a pleasant and professional manner. Sales people often fall into the trap of coming to the close, the client finally agrees to buy and the sales person turns into someone who has seemingly just won the lottery.

Sales people start spending the commission they could earn from the sale before the deal is even closed, although you may be excited, the last thing a client wants to see is you excitement as they may see this as it been at their expense.

Sales people also become agitated when they have closed a deal; they feel like the client could change their mind at any time. You’re either running out the door or slamming the phone down before anything else can be said, or the contract could be ripped up. You have to slow down and realise that the client is interested; they’re not going to run away when they have seen the value in your service/product and have signed the contract.

This can mean that many sales people also rush through the paper work or the logistics of the service involved with closing the sales. This means that the service won’t actually be sold or completed, which may mean the client won’t return for repeat business and any further deals that could have been made are lost because of poor attention to detail.

We all want to close the sale, but sometimes taking your time to do that can benefit you in the long run, it can show clients that you value their business and want what is best for them rather than a quick sale. Take your time and make sure you have looked at all the client’s needs and developed a strategy that benefits both parties.

Get more sales and business from your LinkedIn

LinkedIn has the potential to be a fantastic tool for any business owner or even sales executive, are you getting the most out of it? Read some simple tips and get more from LinkedIn now.
Social media is seen as the way forward when doing business, it can keep you in touch with customers along with finding out what they are thinking and feeling at a particular time, out of all the social media opportunities the most suited to the sales environment and building business relationships is LinkedIn. LinkedIn can be a goldmine for sales opportunities if it used properly and if you know how to get the best out of it here are a few of our tips for getting the most out of using LinkedIn.
1. Add those contacts!
Very straight forward build up your list of contacts, whenever you get a new business contact add them on LinkedIn (don’t forget to also add your existing clients too). First it’s a nice way to keep in touch, but secondly it gives you a thorough understanding of their past and in some circumstances their interests or potential business needs. Also if the person is difficult to contact it gives you yet another alternative point of contact.
2. Map clients & identify potential business
Moving on the first point you can use LinkedIn to identify alternative opportunities within your existing and prospective client base; by looking through those connected to them you can identify other potential decision makers or even other business prospects who work with your current clients, if you have a strong relationship with your client you could even ask for referrals!
3. Ask for recommendations
A fantastic feature of LinkedIn is the opportunity is the to ask for recommendations, not only is this a great way of showcasing the great work you are doing, but it also adds to the reputation of your business (you can ask for recommendations on your company page too!), so remember ask for the recommendations and let your clients shout about how good you are!
4. Set up a company page
If you haven’t already, ensure you set up a company page this is a great way to advertise your products and services online and it’s completely free. Invite clients to follow you and they can see when you add new products and services, also you can even ask them to recommend your products and services.
5. Join Group discussions
Get in there and join real world conversations that are happening there are plenty of groups on LinkedIn especially around sales and marketing, join these groups and add to the conversations. Not only can this be a good way of identifying potential needs in your market (people often come on asking questions around their work and advice), you could even identify new business opportunities. Finally you could also become known for adding quality knowledge and a great contact point for advice or even a contact for when someone is looking to do business
These are just a few of the potential ways you could be using LinkedIn so get on it today and maximise your opportunities, identify new clients and stay a step ahead of your competition.
Any more tips to share? Please feel free to comment below and add your own tips ideas on how to get the most out of LinkedIn.

Many graduates aren’t ready for the world of work

There are so many graduates that have gone to a respectable university and completed a degree in Business Management. Many graduates feel that this is a good degree, with a broad base of modules covering marketing, business, human resources, psychology and operations management.

The graduates have qualified with a 2:1, and look set to get their dream job with a FTSE 100 company, yet the graduate market has become diluted, with so many graduates and many achieving a 2:1. Graduates are feeling disillusioned with their university education, and many feel they haven’t received the correct career advice. A survey conducted by Totaljobs.com found that 46% of graduates feel they are not ready for the world of work.

With this many employers believe that graduates are lacking the necessary skills or experience to take on a role within their company. According to the survey, 43% of graduates also believe that in hindsight they wouldn’t have chosen their degree course. So it is quite clear that with so many graduates in unemployment and failing to get their dream job because of their lack of experience, employers/recruitment agencies need to provide closer links to universities to provide this much needed experience to graduates.

Many graduate assessment centres tend to look at a graduates ability to cope with work, shown by the competency based questionnaires and group exercises. Their technical and academic achievements are what got them so far, but employers need to see these workplace skills that many graduates don’t possess upon leaving university.

Graduate recruiters are trying to get universities to incorporate more work life skills into their curriculum, yet many academics would argue that university isn’t a prep-school for the world of work and rather a place for learning. Yet they do both agree that university careers services need to develop a better service for their graduates when they are starting their graduate job search.

Sales Training Never Seems to End

Every sales person knows that sales training isn’t a one time event, it’s a continuous development as new processes and technologies come into play. Sales training must and does change within several years, even some of the most experienced sales people need to look into new training and development techniques to enhance their skills.

What can often be a winning formula for a sales person can sometimes become outdated, a company can feel that their methods aren’t as effective as they once were and market industry changes have forced them to change their sales approach.

Sales is often a process that with practice you can develop a better knowledge in negotiation, and presentation skills that only comes with experience. However the most successful sales people need coaching from their managers and also training and development in best practices. Otherwise by themselves sales people can get into bad habits that may work now and again but don’t have a great success rate over a longer period.

Sales people need to beat their competition and to do this they always need to be improving, having a training programme in place that always assesses the competencies of your sales team can not only help them develop the necessary skills but also make the sales person feel more valued by the company and therefore produce better results. Training is consistent, although it can take you away from selling; the time that you are away can be valuable and give you the tools needed to be a sales superstar, delivering a better service to your clients.

The most important thing to remember is that no one has all the perfect sales techniques – sales is a role that continually develops and evolves, which highlights the need for sales training and development. The opportunity of sales training can at least allow a company, sales team or sales person to brush up on the skills they already have.