Progress Beyond the Numbers

The owner of a printing company walks into her sales managers' office and asks, “How is the sales force doing?” The manager puts down his copy of Graphic Arts Monthly's Swimsuit Edition, turns to his computer screen and pulls up a report. Quickly looking at the numbers, he spews a monotone answer based on sales volume, sales activity, quote activity, number of appointments and number of phone calls made.

His boss then says, “Great, but how is our sales force doing other than the numbers?” It was as if the manager had been asked to do long division in his head. He didn't understand the question. He frowns, blinks and his head explodes, leaving paper maché residue all over the office.

Sales can be a cold profession. Our progress can be measured in any number of ways, and all of those ways involve cold, hard statistics. But where is the softer side? By the numbers, sales progress is about more. Beyond the numbers, progress is about getting better. To know how your sales force is doing other than numbers, ask these four questions:

“What did you learn?” The next time a sales rep returns from a day of appointments, or from a trade show or perhaps at the end of a work week, toss out these questions and probe the answers you get: What has he learned from the client that he didn't know prior to the calls? Does he know more about his client's strengths and weaknesses?

“Who are you?” Every company has a brand, but do your sales people realize that they have brands, too? Ask your reps how they see themselves in the eyes of the client. What do they believe to be their strongest sales characteristic? If you get the opportunity, pose the same question to some of his clients and compare notes. You are likely to be surprised to find that the reasons they think people buy from them are different from the real reasons.

“What are your plans to grow sales?” This question has that fatherly—“What do you plan to do with your life, young man?”—tone to it. This is a great question to ask a few days prior to a one-on-one with the rep. Nothing can happen without a plan. Insist that your reps have something in mind by hearing their activity goals over the next 90 days.

“What do you need from me?” Not everyone knows how they like to be managed (and not every sales manager offers a choice), but if you ask, you begin to set mutual expectations. Reps complain that they are over-, under- and/or mismanaged. Begin a dialog that results in a plan for sales management.

The numbers only tell part of the story. There is still plenty of other work to do to determine how your rep is progressing. Judging only by sales volume alone paints a one-sided picture. Is the rep that is reaching quota doing his job? What about the one who prospects hard for a month but sells only 25% of her plan? If the rep has record sales volume during a month where he played golf 14 times, should he be congratulated or scolded? Answering the question “How is the sales force doing?” requires more than just a computer print out. Sales managers have to actually, gulp, manage.

DOWNLOAD Bill's sales training at www.piamsc.com.