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Will More Training Help?

A recent study in market trends indicated that the sales training business is poised to grow nicely over the next several years. Huh? It seems counter intuitive that anyone would be thinking about spending money on things not deemed essential under the current circumstances.

A man in front of a screen with a red arrow
Photographer: Frank Busch | Source: Unsplash

I have to agree with the prediction in that I believe it will be the sales department and its team that will be the instrument of recovery for most battered businesses. It is not as complicated to”flip the on switch” for the production side of most businesses as it is to get customers to start buying from YOU again. Therefore, your businesses survival is contingent upon the ability of your sales team to get business rolling again.

Back to the prediction about training and training in general. It is likely that you will see benefit from getting some sales training on how to sell in the new reality. General sales training might not be as valuable or important right now. We’re selling in a new reality right now and nobody is sure exactly what to do to get customers buying again.

Training certainly has its place in any sales team, in fact it’s incredibly important. Especially for new members of your team.

Even more important than training, however, is that your sales team has as many top producers as possible. And by top producers, I mean entrepreneurial, driven closers who will figure out how to make sales in any environment. Therefore, before even thinking about spending money on training, you should be looking at who you have on your team.

There is a ton of sales talent looking for work right now. More than in the last decade at least, maybe in the last 50 years. You should always be recruiting new sales talent. Now is a great time to be doing it in preparation for your business grabbing more than its fair share of the market. Hiring real sellers can be tough. If you’d like to learn how a strategic system for hiring salespeople can make a huge difference in your business recovery, click HERE.

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Talent Acquisition

Money’s Tight, Can I Hire a Commission Only Salesperson to Get My Business Moving Again?

So, you’re ready to get business rolling again and you’re wondering if a commission only sales compensation plan will get you a good seller who can make a difference to your business without bringing additional financial risk into your world. The simple answer is a resounding…maybe, but probably not. It really depends on what type of business you have and whether you are comfortable with a high level of turnover.

Let’s first look at your particular business. Has anyone ever made a living selling your product or service on a straight commission basis? Is there someone you can point to in your organization about whom you can say “see Alan over there? He made $204562 last year.” If you cannot answer yes to both of these questions, you probably cannot continue down the commission only path. Seeing a path to good income is absolutely an essential element of getting a serious seller to consider your commission only offer.

An additional element of a company that can use a commission only compensation plan is that they make an ongoing investment in the success of the commission only salesperson. An example of this would be that the company will set up appointments for the salesperson, in effect, doing the cold calling for the salesperson. Home improvement companies will often have this compensation strategy and can indeed show people who are really making a lot of money doing what they will ask new sales reps to do.

Bottom line is that this compensation strategy will not work for the vast majority of business types we’ve worked with. And if it does work, as in the example of the home improvement business setting appointments for their salespeople, you will need to understand that you’ll always be in the recruitment business as turnover will be very high.

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