Want Sales to Achieve? Get S.M.A.R.T.
by James Lorenzen
Developing a sales force isn’t easy. It takes commitment and a consistent process. That’s the reason our papers held training five mornings a week, every week of the year.
Training “events” can set the stage and ignite a desire, but it’s the process that develops skills. Even now that we’re in the training business, we never kid ourselves into believing we’re the reason other people succeed. When clients succeed, it’s because THEY were committed to the ongoing training process. People like us who set the stage and provide the roadmap can’t – and shouldn’t – take credit for what the organization’s management, supervisors, and salespeople themselves are actually doing.
Success in anything requires S.M.A.R.T. goals – goals that are:
Specific - Goals need to be definable, providing focus and direction. The end result must be clear. By the way, be sure goals are WRITTEN. Unwritten goals are like smoke, they disappear.
Measurable - Results need to be quantifiable. Your people need to see the difference between what they achieved vs. where they started. They want to know when they’re progressing. Remember this simple formula: WHO is to do WHAT by WHEN.
Action-oriented – Use action verbs. It should be an activity, performance, or operation designed to produce results, i.e., “increase,” “reduce,” etc. Most often, goals will have a series of Action-Steps required to achieve them. Each Action-Step should have a target date, as well. You should also be aware of the potential obstacles that might be encountered and the solutions that can be applied to each. This is an excellent workshop you can conduct for your managers and supervisors.
Realistic - Your people must see it as attainable and believe it. They’ll be motivated only if they believe they can do it! When I set my sales records, I didn’t expect my newer and younger reps to accomplish the same thing; they didn’t have my background or experience. If I had expected them to write campaigns at the rate I did, they wouldn’t have even tried. Since they saw the goals as realistic, they ‘jumped’ at the chance to succeed – and they did. We outsold all of our much larger competition even when we were perceived to be far from dominant.
Tangible - The goal should be easy to recognize when it’s accomplished – and highly visible.
To make it all work, you need to determine what motivates your employees. And, that begins with an understanding that people do things for THEIR reasons, not yours. Former L.A. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda once said, “My players are already motivated; that’s how they got to the majors. I have to find out what motivates them and tap into that!”
Ask a group of people what motivates them and you’ll hear words like money, recognition, promotion, self-satisfaction, winning, paid time off, awards, etc. The fact is, each is true for someone but all aren’t true for anyone. Most people have one or two that motivate them most of the time.
Our salespeople were motivated by money and recognition. That made sense because our compensation structure was definitely geared to high performance, which didn’t attract those looking for a cushy job. Top people made more money working for us than they could at the Los Angeles Times. Bottom performers didn’t last and usually ended up applying for work at our competition. That’s exactly how I wanted the doors to turn.
That was the money part. For recognition, those who achieved a certain level of annual contract advertisers with minimum revenue and maximum cancellation benchmarks were rewarded with a leased luxury car. Most in those days requested a Mercedes, which made me look a little out of step, because I drove a Buick. Naturally, they had to maintain production levels to keep the car. Reps from other papers saw my reps driving around in style and the result was my never having to look for talent. We had a waiting list. Our reps were also active in civic groups, chambers, etc., and I never missed an opportunity to brag about them to other people very publicly. Everyone wants to be appreciated and top people should be.
Training played a big role. When you train people correctly, they find it’s fun and exciting and they get “charged-up,” It also sends the signal you think they’re worth the investment. When you fail to train them, it sends the opposite message, that’s when they start looking around.
Motivated salespeople bring you additional benefits: They volunteer to do things others won’t. They react well to new information. They implement new ideas and information immediately. They set a positive example for others. They view knowledge as an opportunity for growth. And, they’re fun to be around. You know you’re doing it right when they’re excited about skill development and take pride in execution.
Where do you begin? Start with your managers and supervisors. Train them on how to manage and lead salespeople. You could easily spend two hours on just the topics covered in this short article, but you’ll also want to cover subjects like:
Learning to lead your sales team
How to build your sales team
Developing essential sales management skills
How to achieve results as a sales manager
How to lead your sales team with momentum
You could easily involve them in workshops, etc., for three hours on each one of those topics. I guarantee you, you’d have a high-performance organization that could compete with any in the marketplace.
The next step is obvious. Begin training your salespeople, and never, ever, stop. Baseball teams have batting practice before EVERY game. The reason is simple: They want to develop rhythm and a mental picture of success before taking the field – where they have to execute under pressure – every single day.
Selling is no different. Training is a process, not an event. Events fail if stand-alone events are all you do. However, special events can be highly successful if it’s part of a strategy and tied to a comprehensive training process. The key is not to drop the ball when the event is over! Whatever you do, be sure it’s only the “kick-off” to a much larger initiative, and be sure your training must be grounded in reality and tied to actual field experience. That’s what gives your training credibility and truly aids in genuine skill development.
James Lorenzen founded, built, and sold five successful publications, an advertising agency, and a direct-mail company and has been the headline speaker at more than 500 conventions worldwide (see www.jameslorenzen.com). He is CEO of Gardner Hathaway, LLC, a Moorpark, CA-based firm specializing in high-performance training and organizational development consulting (see www.gardnerhathaway.com). Call 805.265.5418.
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