Many companies have sales forces made up of legacy staff members who are former operations-customer service-warehouse-technician folks: in short, sales forces of non-salespeople.
If you find yourself in this situation and you’re facing sluggish sales, you might think you have a simple sales training issue on your hands. However, if you dig deeper you may be surprised at what you find – and even more surprised at what is required to turn things around.
“Last man standing” sales force composition is not uncommon. Hard-working, solid performers in non-sales roles who possess the gift of gab are often tapped for promotion and moved into sales. In lieu of formal instruction and job orientation, they are given a customer list and a telephone and told to “go forth and sell!” They are then left to solve the puzzle of their new jobs on their own over time.
After about 12 months, management typically finds that year-over-year sales results are flat. Recognizing that sufficient role-specific instruction was not given to the sales team upfront, sales training is prescribed. A spike in team spirit and sales results and then dissipates, leaving the company in the same situation it was in the previous quarter.
Situations like these are often not sales training issues. They may be employee engagement issues.
Employee engagement refers to how “into” their jobs people are. Engaged employees are enthusiastic about their work and consistently acts in ways that further theirs and the organization’s interests. They are the glue that holds your company together.
A promotion should leave an employee feeling valued by the organization. When placed in a new job without sufficient orientation and training, that person may end up feeling frustrated and undervalued instead. When this happens, employee engagement suffers.
Strong employers attract, focus on and keep their most talented employees. They do this by setting the stage to allow people to do their best work every day. They recognize a job well done. They make clear the connection between people’s day-to-day work and the company’s overall health. They give regular job performance feedback. In short, they overtly display that they care about their staff as people. (For more on creating a strong workplace, pick up Marcus Buckingham’s First, Break all the Rules – a must-read.)
Show your non-salesperson salespeople you care about them by giving them the right training at the right time. Do so immediately upon their role change, when enthusiasm is high, not one year later when enthusiasm is low and frustration is the dominant emotion.
To inculcate your new non-salespeople into their sales roles, build a learning journey that allows for knowledge acquisition and skill development over 12 months. Give them what they need to know, when they need to know it.
As a leader, you have several learning journey path options. The first is the “do it yourself” model. Begin by giving your employees accountability in their learning journey. Assign some “off-the-shelf” reading (e.g., The SPIN Selling Fieldbook by Neil Rackham) to give them the knowledge they will need to conduct professional sales calls.
Then pair each of them with a sales mentor from within the sales team. The mentors’ role is to help them navigate the sales role by giving practical real-world advice. Finally, provide bi-weekly sales skill coaching from a sales manager. This will assist employees in developing the selling skills required for success.
Leveraging third-party training providers is another option. Decide what the learning needs of the individual are (time management, sales call effectiveness, sales strategy creation, etc.). Then, shop around for a training company that specializes in that area. One course per quarter allows your staff to absorb and assimilate its learning sufficiently. Too-frequent course attendance can result in data overload and wasted training dollars. Combine this training with the mentor and manager coaching outlined above for maximum effectiveness.
Regardless of the training and development path you choose, be sure to get guidance along the way. Speak to another sales leader who has faced the “team of non-salespeople” challenge. Ask what worked, what didn’t and how he or she suggests you proceed.
Alternatively, engage a third-party consultant to steer you through the process. Working with such a trusted adviser will allow you to focus on running the business, rather than being a training designer.
Providing your salespeople with job-specific training and support at the right time is a prudent thing to do. It makes for a healthy organization and paves the way for sales and revenue-generation success.
Most importantly, it helps create a team of people who are into their jobs, excited to come to work and happy to contribute their best every day.