| Tagged in: Sales Training , Sales Productivity , Sales Coaching , kate dunn , Digital Innovations Group , dig | Feb 25, 2010 |
| Posted by: Kate_Dunn |
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A study by the ES Research Group notes that 30% of sales people are not suited for their jobs. That bears repeating. 30% of sales people are not suited for their jobs. Why? Because they lack critical behavioral traits such as self-motivation, intelligence, persuasiveness, resilience and curiosity. These personality traits, which correlate closely with sales ability, occur in only 20% of the population according to Geoffrey James of the Sales Machine.
So let’s net this out. Professional selling requires characteristics that most people do not possess and a whole lot of people who call themselves sales reps don’t have these characteristics. This is why 4% of the country's salespeople sell 94% of the goods and services.*
A professional sales person is like a thoroughbred racehorse. They don’t pull plows even though they technically can. So why do so many organizations create job descriptions that have their racehorses in charge of company marketing or submitting estimate requests or managing other sales people or cajoling technical resources to do their jobs? Sure, sales people can do these things, but so can a lot of other people who can’t sell.
Why not look to the other 80% of the population for marketers, for detail oriented project managers, for babysitters or sales managers? Clear all of the obstacles for your sales pros and then let them run. Let them focus on getting to senior executives, understanding their issues, solving their problems and closing sales.
Conversely, if you happen to have some of those sales people who are not suited for their jobs, either put them in a role where they can succeed, or let them go. No tactic can change personality, not training, not contests, threats or apathy. As my grandmother used to say, “You can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse”. Cut your losses, find the right person and then give them the environment that allows them to do what they, and only they, can do.
* Conclusion from a studies conducted by Harvard University (completed in the late 1990s), The Gallup Organization (which studied more than three million salespeople over a 25 year period), and The HR Chally Group (which carried out a several-decade study of 80,000 s
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written by Kate Dunn, March 01, 2010
Dave,
We do a lot of work in the graphic arts industry. Unfortunately, this industry has a habit of promoting their best sales people to management but leaving them "in territory." You can not be a slave to two masters. Sales management is a discipline of its own. A salesman earning commissions from accounts will have a tough time devoting the amount of effort necessary to developing and coaching his sales team. The rep, now manager does nothing more than continue to sell in his own accounts, and in those of his/her reps. The end result is he gives the other reps a fish and does not teach them to fish. Very little is accomplished in the long run.
We do a lot of work in the graphic arts industry. Unfortunately, this industry has a habit of promoting their best sales people to management but leaving them "in territory." You can not be a slave to two masters. Sales management is a discipline of its own. A salesman earning commissions from accounts will have a tough time devoting the amount of effort necessary to developing and coaching his sales team. The rep, now manager does nothing more than continue to sell in his own accounts, and in those of his/her reps. The end result is he gives the other reps a fish and does not teach them to fish. Very little is accomplished in the long run.
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You took ESR's research to the correct logical conclusion. My only disagreement is you having added sales manager to your list (detail oriented project managers, for babysitters or sales managers) of other roles to be considered for the unqualified sales person.
The required traits for sales managers should be seen as a layer on top of what's required to sell. There certainly are sales managers who manage better than they sold, and some who never sold at all. But that's a rare exception. Most successful sales managers have all the required capabilities for successful selling plus an array of specialized management skills.
The average tenure of a sales vp/manager in the U.S. is less than two years. This is a very nasty situation, costing corporations billions every year. The main reason for this epidemic is hiring and promoting people who are unqualified into sales management positions, just as those sales managers hire the wrong people into sales positions.
So, caution is required when considering moving a salesperson into a sales management role. That's especially true if they don't have the skills, traits, and experience required for effective selling.