I N ST I T U T E O F SA L E S M A N AG E M E N T
WINNINGEDGE R A I S I N G T H E VA L U E O F S A L E S
BUILDING BLOCKS
Data-led insights for sales growith Cover V7.indd 2
Number 2 2018 | ismprofessional.com | £4.95
EASY KAM EASY GO? The future focus on key accounts
GREAT MINDS...
think through their sales proposals 22/06/2018 15:30
The British Excellence in Sales Management Awards (BESMA) celebrate outstanding sales achievement. Organised by the ISM, BESMA is now in its 12th year, and continues to recognise exceptional performance by talented sales professionals and teams. BESMA is the UK’s leading sales awards. Simply by nominating your top salespeople you’ll be acknowledging their talent and efforts, giving them a massive morale boost. There are numerous Award categories – covering sales leaders and managers, star salespeople, top sales teams – and senior management too.
THE CUT-OFF DATE FOR NOMINATIONS IS 2 AUGUST
IFC Besma Ad V3.indd 1
HOW TO NOMINATE l Visit www.ismprofessional.com/besma-2018 l Identify the correct category and complete the nomination online. l Upload your completed application by 2 AUGUST.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? l On 14 August the judges will announce the shortlist of finalists to go forward to one of the BESMA Judging Days on 5-6 September 2018. l Winners of BESMA 2018 will be announced at a magnificent awards ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on 26 October 2018.
SPONSORSHIP l Sponsorship opportunities are available for BESMA 2018. Email Dave Millichap at dmillichap@ismprofessional.com or call him on 07481 109875.
23/06/2018 19:19
CONTENTS
12 COVER STORY
CONTENTS
WINNINGEDGE
36
40
32
32
NUMBER 2 – 2018 ismprofessional.com
16
Institute of Sales Management 18 King William Street London EC4N 7BP Telephone: +44 (0)20 3870 4949 Email: enquiries@ismprofessional.com Website: ismprofessional.com President: Frank Rowe Chief Operating Officer: Roger Bradburn Corporate Director: Thomas Moverley Head of Marketing: Adam Brook Editorial: Marc Beishon, Tom Nash Design: Del Gentleman Advertising: Adam Brook Telephone: +44 (0)20 3870 4949 Email: enquiries@ismprofessional.com
Printed by: Ridgeway Press Š ISM 2018. Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the ISM. The publishers endeavour to check all facts and figures prior to publication, but are not responsible for errors in material supplied to them for publication. Any article published will automatically be deemed to carry the sole copyright and be the property of the ISM. International Standard Serial No. UK ISSN 1746-6849
20
9
2 ISM events
12 COVER STORY
Forthcoming ISM webinars and key sales conferences
Past reflections and forwardthinking from ISM veterans
3 ISM editorial
16 Rules of negotiating
An update on important recent initiatives from the Institute
Rounding up our series
4 Sales Talk
Topical sales news and research
6 Smarter Selling How to improve your chances of winning awards, including BESMA
8 ISM partner profile
1 Contents V2.indd 3
Dangle carrots to drive up sales
24 Ignite your sales World-class teams are the key
26 Accounts and technology
Account planning strategies
How online retailer AO is working successfully with the ISM
32 Building for growth
9 Tools for the job
36 Key account management
The latest technology for switched-on sales pros
10 Comment
Laurence Winmill on the need for human qualities in selling
11 Advice Patricia Seabright on how to nurture successful sales change
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
20 Sales incentives
Explaining five key sales levers
Why KAM faces a volatile future
40 Dissenting voices Proposals must cater for them
44 Agile selling How to cope in a disruptive age 46 Book reviews 48 ISM profile: Dave Millichap WINNING EDGE 1
22/06/2018 14:55
EVENTS 2018
THE ISM OFFERS AND SUPPORTS A RICH VARIETY OF EVENTS FOR SALES PROFESSIONALS
l
The ISM’s rolling programme of events includes one-day conferences, topical briefings, special interest group meetings, regional group meetings, webinars and awards. This varied mix of events offers superb networking opportunities and relevance to professionals at all levels.
l
The ISM also works in partnership with other professional institutes and relevant commercial partners to provide the most up-to-date events programme to both our members and the wider sales profession.
l
isted below is a selection of forthcoming L dates for your diary.
ISM WEBINARS 17 July 2018 24 July 2018 4 Sept 2018 2 Oct 2018 9 Oct 2018 16 Oct 2018
11am 11am 11am 11am 11am 11am
Onboarding: how to turn an A-player into a B-player in under 4 weeks Marcus Cauchi How to build a powerful partner sales channel and the 13 mistakes to avoid Marcus Cauchi The art of sales and management Laurence Winmill Your customer journey is broken and here are three things to help you fix it Nevil Tynemouth Why don’t your salespeople do what they need to do? Mike Lever Why is sales coaching such a misunderstood development tool? Mike Lever
BRITISH EXCELLENCE IN SALES MANAGEMENT AWARDS (BESMA)
GRADUATE SALES CONFERENCE 2018
2 August – Nominations close 14 August – Finalists announced 5-6 September – Judging Day 26 October – Awards ceremony, Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London
A personal development day for graduates and students with an interest in sales, also co-located with NSC 2018. Attendees will also have opportunity to meet recruitment companies and prospective employers. Visit www.gsconference.co.uk
THE NEW RULES OF SELLING
29 November – Ricoh Arena, Coventry
7 November – Oulton Hall, Leeds A special one-day seminar, The 7 Keys Of Selling, Persuasion and Influence, which will give you all you need to know to increase sales and grow your business.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING Multiple dates until 17 November Studying for a professional qualification can be a big decision, so Professional Academy invites you to book a one-to-one advice session with its qualification adviser Philip Perren. Visit www.professionalacademy.com
NATIONAL SALES ACADEMY 2018 28 November – Ricoh Arena, Coventry A conference designed for sales professionals with up to two years’ experience. Co-located with National Sales Conference (NSC) 2018 (see opposite). Visit www.nsacademy.org.uk 20% ISM member discount, quote: ISMSALES18
2 Events V2.indd 2
28 November – Ricoh Arena, Coventry
NATIONAL SALES CONFERENCE 2018 Back by popular demand, Sir Clive Woodward will address NSC 2018, which runs alongside the National Sales Exhibition, also endorsed by the ISM. England’s legendary rugby union coach will share his unique insight into a new topic: the key challenge for sales leaders of creating cohesive, winning teams. He will describe the Teamship model he uses to create “an environment so positive that everyone wants to be a part of it and nobody ever wants to leave”. It is a formula he has repeatedly adopted to build outstanding teams – including England’s 2003 Rugby Union World Cup winners, and Team GB at London 2012 – and which he now applies successfully for leading businesses. Visit www.nsconference.co.uk 20% ISM member discount, quote: ISMSALES18
For the most up-to-date information on all ISM and ISM-supported events, visit: www.ismprofessional.com/events
22/06/2018 14:57
INSTITUTE OF SALES MANAGEMENT | EDITORIAL
NEW AND VIEWS FROM THE ISM TOM MOVERLEY updates ISM activities and highlights themes and articles in this issue of Winning Edge
P
reparations are now in full swing for the British Excellence in Sales Management Awards (BESMA), our flagship event of the year. We have a new head judge – Kerry Nutley, BT’s vice president of digital sales, who has said it is an honour to be working with the leading professional body for the sales industry to support the recognition of UK sales and their achievements. She also says: “Being selected as a finalist and having the opportunity to demonstrate your achievements is in itself a fantastic way to showcase your skills and I look forward to working with this year’s judging team to identify the best talent in UK sales.” To which I can only add, nominations are coming in fast and do add yours to the mix. And see Donna O’Toole’s advice on page 6 of this issue about how to maximise your chances of winning an industry award. She writes that the best entries she has seen are those that have made an emotional connection with the judges – demonstrating the impact on customers or employees and so bringing to life the work of a person or team – which is sound advice. I would also draw your attention to several items on pages 4–5. First, I was part of an ISM delegation that travelled to Malaysia where we took part in three conferences with education and employer partners that are now offering the ISM’s Ofqual-recognised qualifications. The ISM is an international organisation that supports countries around the world keen to take up and implement UK qualifications, and this trip was a great advertisement for a high quality British export that is much in demand, and you will be hearing more such stories in the future as we develop ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
3 ISM editorial REVISE.indd 3
“The ISM supports countries around the world keen to take up UK qualifications” our international partnerships. Second, we have launched our Learning and Development Leaders’ Forum for ISM Corporate Partners. We have held the first meeting of the forum, chaired by ISM Fellow Andy Gray, and it will be a regular event for exploring the latest sales training themes and also providing benchmarking information from top sales organisations to feed into our sales skills development programmes. Look out too for our regional events, which we are now ramping up around the country. These events are for members to hear and interact with sales leaders in your region in the UK and to network. We currently have regional events running in London, the North East and the Midlands, and will be adding other regions soon, including Wales (see also news item, page 5). Finally on ISM business, we have appointed a new membership manager, Rachael Bourke. Rachael joins us with a wealth of experience from the London Chamber of Commerce where she was responsible for managing a range of committees. Please join us in welcoming Rachael, and if you have any questions regarding the ISM or your membership don’t hesitate to contact her.
IN WINNING EDGE In this issue of Winning Edge, I’d like to draw your attention to the interviews with longstanding members (pages 12-15) where you will find much wisdom. Terence Hathaway, for example, has built his career by embracing change, and emphasises that while sales and business development has evolved enormously over the years, “more than ever, the need for true sales professionals is a fundamental component” and feels that one of the priorities now is for all leaders to set the objectives for their companies and fully engage people, not least in sales. Anna Britnor-Guest, meanwhile, highlights the path to developing yourself as a sales professional – being persistent and building support around you, and never stop learning. She also encourages girls and women to consider the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sectors – a sentiment that we fully agree with. Also in this issue is a focus on account planning. Beth Rogers takes on the subject of key account management (KAM), which she says has rather been taken for granted for at least two decades as a successful strategy for growing profitable revenue with major customers. But volatility and uncertainty in the global economy means that KAM approaches have to evolve “but the leader at the customer interface is more strategic than ever before”. See pages 36–39. Steve Hoyle and Garry Mansfield say that account management is a team sport and the best-performing companies are able to line up their resources behind a cohesive account plan. But how best to develop one? They show what’s needed to create and review account plans and consider that really you are going to need technology to keep things on track. But they warn that tools must fit into a broader business process – where reviews and coaching are central to account management activities. Tom Moverley is the ISM’s corporate director.
WINNING EDGE 3
26/06/2018 09:53
SALES TALK INDUSTRY NEWS STATISTICS
DID YOU KNOW… EDUCATION
1
ST
81%
THE UK’S INTERNATIONAL B2C CUSTOMER SERVICE RANKING
OF UK CUSTOMERS ARE SERVED ‘RIGHT FIRST TIME’
£5.50
13%
IS THE AVERAGE INCREASE IN TRANSACTION VALUE OF A SIMPLE ‘HELLO’
EXPERIENCE A PROBLEM
Sources: Mystery Shopping Professionals Association’s Smile report on customer experience; Institute of Customer Service
BUZZWORDS GDPR We may all be suffering from GDPR fatigue following the recent imposition of the EU’s general data protection regulation, but a survey by digital marketing agency TopLine Communications finds that 82% of consumers care how their personal data is used by organisations. The survey also reveals that 63% of UK consumers would prefer to receive fewer emails, and 41% are opting out of current email subscriptions – leaving firms scrambling to retain subscribers. Heather Baker, CEO of TopLine, comments, “Email selling and marketing’s expiry date may be fast-approaching. GDPR – and in particular the new e-Privacy Regulation (ePR) – are going to change the landscape. Expect to see more of an emphasis on PR, search and social advertising to gain leads.”
4 WINNING EDGE
4-5 News V2.indd 2
ISM LAUNCHES L&D LEADERS’ FORUM The ISM has held the inaugural meeting of its new Learning and Development Leaders’ Forum, hosted by Speedy Services (above)
The ISM’s L&D Leaders’ Forum provides ISM Corporate Partners with a platform for engagement, enabling them to come together, share best practice, discuss common challenges and further inform the work of the ISM. Chaired by ISM Fellow Andy Gray and hosted by Speedy Services, the first meeting focused on Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training evaluation, which prompted invaluable discussions around supporting the ongoing development of sales professionals. The forum will enable participants to support each other with the implementation of sales training programmes within their respective organisations. It will also generate feedback to help the ISM benchmark and upskill sales professionals around the country. The forum intends to meet each quarter and will collectively shape each session. Paul Fielder, head of sales excellence at Experian, comments,
“It is wonderful that the ISM recognises the crucial role of learning and development in ensuring sales best practice. The L&D Leaders’ Forum provides an opportunity for experts from a broad range of organisations to share their experience and discuss opportunities for sales performance improvement.” Fielder adds, “ I found it hugely useful to have the chance to meet with like-minded sales excellence professionals who share similar ambitions and challenges.” The ISM would like to thank the following organisations for their involvement in this new initiative: Aggregate Industries, BT, Experian, Future Learn, Ground Control, Redrow Homes, Sherwin Williams Coatings, Speedy Services, Starr Works, Medicash and Yara. To find out more, contact Dave Millichap, ISM corporate account director, at dmillichap@ismprofessional.com
ISM GLOBAL
MAKING FRIENDS IN MALAYSIA The ISM is developing its international networks As part of its strategy for continued growth abroad, the ISM led a delegation to Malaysia to discuss collaboration with the Malaysian Employers Federation and other industry bodies. The ISM’s COO Roger Bradburn and corporate director Tom Moverley represented the ISM on the visit. They were accompanied by international sales trainer and motivational expert Andy Preston, and a leader on the application of blockchain in CRM systems, Ambrish Bansal. Business and product creation expert Peter Thomson also joined via internet link. The trip involved three one-day conferences. The first, at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, was held in conjunction with Sabah Skills and Technology Centre, a major education provider in the region
that will be offering ISM qualifications. The second was held in Kuala Lumpur with the Malaysian Employers Federation, which represents around 10,000 companies in the country. The third, also in the Malaysian capital, was held with the IMEC Education Group and the University of Malaysia Sarawak Learning Centre, both major education providers that will work with the ISM on qualifications delivery. A total of more than 130 companies from Malaysia and other South-East Asian nations were represented at the events. The ISM team also met the Malaysian Institute of Marketing, developed new relationships and discussed how the ISM could support firms in the region with sales development, professionalism and recognition.
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:01
SALES TALK | INDUSTRY NEWS
SHORT SELLING
Talking Point
N EW S RO UND- UP
THE FAIRER-PRICE SEX
“Women are smarter shoppers than men, saving more by purchasing discounted items and remaining more loyal to retailers, which increases their chance of personalised rewards” Source: Research by marketing platform Optimove
ISM ONLINE
WEBINARS PROVE POPULAR The ISM has launched its first private webinar As part of its increasingly popular webinar programme, the ISM has launched its first private webinar, now available on the Institute’s learning management system (LMS). Entitled “How to write an award-winning BESMA nomination”, the webinar is delivered by Donna O’Toole, CEO of awards consultancy August. The webinar explains how to identify your award-winning USP, choose a winning category, write an outstanding story, present your evidence, and impress the judges. For more on these themes, see page 6. The webinar also gives the unique opportunity to ask O’Toole any questions you may have on your BESMA nominations. Register online for an hour of valuable tips and advice. The ISM’s public webinar programme is growing month-on-month, and now has more than 1,500 subscribers. For details of forthcoming webinars see page 2. If you are interested in delivering an ISM webinar contact the ISM’s head of marketing, Adam Brook, at abrook@ismprofessional.com
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
4-5 News V2.indd 3
RISING STARS ISM REGIONS
ISM TO LAUNCH WALES REGION
The ISM is delighted to announce that ISM Wales will be launched this autumn The launch of ISM Wales is scheduled for this autumn, in association with Business Step Up, a national network of associates offering strategic and tactical support to fast track companies for growth and profit. The move follows strong interest from members in Wales. ISM Wales will help develop a thriving and engaged professional sales community in Wales. As the professional body for the sales industry, the ISM is committed to providing its members and the wider sales industry community in Wales with a platform for hearing and learning from leading business figures, attending regular events, and sharing ideas and best practice, while having opportunities to network with their colleagues, customers and industry peers. The first chair of ISM Wales will be Mark Wilcox, managing director of Business Step Up. He is an ISM Fellow and a member for almost 40 years. (We feature some more longstanding members on page 12.)
Sales stars of the future recently went head-to-head in a new competition at Edinburgh Napier University. Students travelled to the university’s Craiglockhartbased business school to test their nerve and skill in the first UK Universities Sales Competition, sponsored by research firm Gartner. The competition, co-hosted by Abertay University, promotes the importance of professional selling to the UK economy and gives students a platform to use key techniques in real world situations. Winners were Zeya Cao (York University), Anna Bloch (Perth College), Alex McCrindle and Emma Sword (Abertay University) and Abbie O’Grady (Kansas State).
PRIDE OF POMPEY
George Nodwell, a final year sales student at the University of Portsmouth, has been crowned winner of the 2018 European Sales Competition in Paris. Nodwell competed for the title over two days against over 50 students from 22 universities across Europe, and one from the US. He won after negotiating a fictitious, but realistic, high level sales deal for a multinational software company. He is pictured here on the right with the team’s coach, Richard Lowton, senior teaching fellow in marketing and sales.
NOTEWORTHY
Music can be more effective than visuals in sales and marketing. Visual branding has traditionally been the sole focus for many organisations, but research by audio branding specialist PHMG finds 60% of consumers believe music elicits stronger emotions and is more memorable.
SALES CHAT
CRM provider Zoho has unveiled Zia Voice, which it says is “the first conversational AI for sales teams” adding speech and chat to Zia, Zoho’s AI-powered sales assistant.
OVER TO YOU
If you are an ISM member and would like to feature in Winning Edge as an expert contributor or a profile subject, please email articles or ideas to Adam Brook at abrook@ismprofessional.com. The copy date for the autumn edition is 27 July.
WINNING EDGE 5
22/06/2018 15:01
SMARTER SELLING
AWARDS
CELEBRATE SUCCESS! Awards expert Donna O’Toole explains how to maximise your chances of winning sales awards
inning awards can make an enormous difference to your business results. Research has found that award-winning businesses are approximately 63% more profitable than their non-award-winning rivals. In this day and age of research and easy access to the internet, we look for reasons to choose one business over another. If you’ve won an award it will bring you credibility and opportunities with new customers, clients and partners. They’re more likely to buy from you, or work with you, than a competitor that hasn’t won awards. So show the world why you deserve to win their business.
W
“There’s a difference between whether the best business wins an award, or the best award entry wins”
DONNA O’TOOLE is CEO of August, a consultancy that specialises in helping companies enter – and win – industry awards. Visit www.craftedbyaugust.com
What’s the biggest mistake you could make in an award entry?
Main picture: FBC Manby Bowdler celebrates success in winning the BESMA 2017 trophy for Best Employer
to make sure you pick the awards and categories that will give you the best return on investment. For example, if your business goal is to recruit new talent, it would make sense to demonstrate that you’re a good employer, so you would want to pick a category about being a great employer. Similarly, if you want to build your customer base then you should enter an award category that shows off your excellent customer service. To stand a good chance of winning, however, you must link the projects, initiatives and results to correlate with the award criteria.
One of the biggest and most common mistakes is to claim achievements but fail to substantiate these appropriately. If you don’t build evidence into your award entry, then the claims you are making about your business’s success and growth are just hot air. Unless you can back up your claims you will lose points, and businesses that do provide evidence of their achievements will score more points than you. How do you choose the best project and the best category to enter?
You need to make the links between the success of the project and the business’s performance. You also need to factor in what your business goals are and why you’re entering awards in the first place, 6 WINNING EDGE
6-7 Smarter Selling REVISE.indd 14
If you have won, or failed to win, an award, is it worth re-entering the same award the next year?
It’s definitely worth re-entering and having another go at an award you’ve previously failed to win, but before you get started I would always recommend getting feedback on why you lost out last time. One of my biggest frustrations about businesses that don’t win the awards they enter is that, with more thought and a better strategy, they usually could have won. It’s not that their project didn’t deserve to win, but they just didn’t match their award entry with the criteria in a way that would impress the judges and score maximum points. There’s a difference between whether the best ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:54
SMARTER SELLING
business wins an award, or the best award entry or presentation wins. So, if you haven’t won an award, I recommend finding out why, taking another look at the criteria and re-entering with an improved strategy. If you have won an award in the previous year, you’re not going to be judged on your past performance, but on this entry alone. So it’s always worth entering again. You’ll stand as much chance of winning as if you had never entered before. Is there a sure-fire way to gain points with the judges?
One way is to make an emotional connection with the judges by bringing your award entry to life through a real-life story or case study. It’s the “human connection” presentations that resonate with judges. Look at how your business project or initiative is benefiting your customers, employees and partners, and then demonstrate how you’re making a difference to people’s lives and businesses. What’s the best example of an awards presentation you’ve judged?
I’ve judged many very good award entries in my time, but also many that were quite disappointing. Some of the best have been those that have made an emotional connection and demonstrated the impact on their customers or employees and brought it to life, either bringing one of those people along or building some video or media into their presentation. Some of the worst entries are those that have not worked to the criteria that the judges are trying to score them on. How can a business optimise their win?
Winning awards is highly important to your business to gain credibility, but unless you share the good news and tell people about your win it’s not going to create a return on investment. Putting the awards logo or a winner’s logo on your website and on your email sign-off is a great starting point. Once you become an award-winner you can use your raised profile to become an expert commentator in the industry press or even national media – showing that you are a thought leader in your area of expertise. Winning an award proves your credibility and helps you build your personal brand, which in turn will build your business brand. It’s a positive cycle that you can start today with your entry to BESMA 2018.
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
6-7 Smarter Selling REVISE.indd 15
LEADING LETTER
NEW AGE PROBLEM, AGE-OLD SOLUTION Terence Hathaway responds to an article in the last edition by championing the merits of older salespeople
I
must respond to the item “Firms struggle to fill sales roles” (Winning Edge, Spring 2018, No 1). In my opinion, the piece, which refers to a survey by Impartner, borders on misleading, and in my experience the recruitment problem it describes is largely self-inflicted by the very companies that claim to struggle. This recurring theme centres on the belief that the level of sales skills companies seek can only be found among younger applicants – and by younger they mean less than 40 years of age... Apparently, from a survey of 200 company HR managers, 9 out of 10 claim it’s difficult to find the talents they require. Indeed, 57% say the problem has worsened, yet even though this is affecting their revenue objectives (according to 75% of those surveyed), there is no apparent change to the recruitment paths they take. I maintain that the wide level of skills and talents required to lift and grow these same companies is out there in abundance among the 40-plus age group. Yet we have employment consultants actively screening out the very people who have the necessary talents, because of their age. Please do not believe the old claim that ageism is not a major factor. And such ridiculous prejudice increases as applicants pass the magic 50 threshold. Is this because prospective employers fear the knowledge they may have amassed, or because recruiters and HR managers are not skilled enough to see how the skills they bring can best be channelled? I believe the same 46% who claim skills are not available are
also guilty of seeking the Holy Grail from younger applicants, many of whom have yet to gather these skills. The article states there is a high compensation requirement for candidates who actually do have the required skills. Yet surely the old adage that “you get what you pay for” is relevant here, and those who have the much sought-after experience are naturally going to come at a premium. It is about time HR professionals and recruitment agencies acknowledged the increasing pool of talent being wasted in the form of unemployed, or underemployed, older salespeople. They are often highly qualified people with extensive skills honed over many years, and the highly developed networks required to secure burgeoning global opportunities for UK companies. I have worked for over 25 years with many international organisations and found that this problem is not so endemic among our overseas competitors, who employ salespeople based on their ability, not on their age. TERENCE HATHAWAY (FISM) is managing director of Alexander Grant Associates. He also contributes to our Cover Story on page 12.
WINNING EDGE 7
26/06/2018 09:54
ISM PARTNER PROFILE
AO WINS ISM APPROVAL The ISM has endorsed AO for the quality of its in-house sales training. Here, the company explains why AO is one of the UK’s leading online electrical retailers. A fanatically customercentric company, we focus on offering our customers the best experience when buying electrical products. Founded in 2000 as Appliances Online, we have grown rapidly, becoming publicly listed in 2014, and now achieving sales of over £600m a year, with operations in Germany and the Netherlands as well as the UK. As part of our sustained commitment to growth, we recently relocated our sales team to Riverside, Manchester, where we’ve created a stimulating, motivational environment for our sales professionals, alongside a collaborative and innovative space for our digital teams. Our new offices have been designed to be a place where different minds can come together and see creative sparks fly. AO is a business that is always striving to find a better way, and there’s no better example of this than the way we treat our 2,500 employees. We know that any success we have as a business stems entirely from our people being able to be authentic, loving what they do, and striving to be the best they can be.
“The ISM is the UK’s only professional sales awarding body to be recognised by Ofqual” 8 WINNING EDGE
8 AO V2.indd 3
QUALITY TRAINING Nowhere is our commitment to our staff more evident than in the training we provide to our Aftercare sales division, which offers product warranties. As Colin Woodfinden, AO’s sales training manager (pictured top left), explains, “We’ve been working with the ISM for the past three years and our internal sales training has been endorsed by the Institute. In fact, our ISM assessor commented that our sales induction is one of the most thorough she has ever come across.” The Aftercare sales team has expanded to 150 salespeople and shows no sign of stopping there. “It’s not the kind of place where someone has to retire before you can get a promotion,” says Woodfinden. “We’re growing – as the demand to buy electrical goods online grows, we need to expand to meet that demand. The majority of our sales managers joined us as sales executives, and it typically takes them around 11 months to progress into a management role.” FOCUS ON SERVICE Underpinning AO’s success is service. “It is very much a consultative sale, albeit without multiple calls before the sale is confirmed,” says Woodfinden. “The service element our salespeople provide is extremely important to us because, as an online retailer, customer feedback is critical to our success.” AO is one of just 20 businesses in the
world to have more than 100,000 reviews on the online review site Trustpilot, and of those it is one of only 10 that has an “excellent” rating. “This feat is all the more impressive when you consider that we have an outbound sales department speaking to over 20,000 customers a week,” says Woodfinden. Karl Hinchcliffe, director of Aftercare, says, “We constantly strive to deliver a great customer experience as well as hit sales targets, and recruiting the right people is key to maintaining that. Over the past couple of years, we have focused a lot on recruiting graduates as they are a good fit culturally, and generally they are hungry for progression opportunities.” Hinchcliffe is keen to dispel the myth that B2C sales roles are somehow inferior to B2B. “Typically, B2C roles are considered a less lucrative option than B2B positions,” he says. “We go against the grain in this respect, demonstrated by the fact that a lot of our salespeople and managers earn £60,000-£80,000 a year.” PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Sales roles at AO are not just about the money. Alongside the other benefits we provide, we soon plan to offer ISM sales qualifications, with AO becoming an ISM Recognised Centre. The ISM is the UK’s only professional sales awarding body to be recognised by Ofqual, the government’s qualifications regulator, so as an ISM Recognised Centre we will be proud to be able to offer Ofqualapproved qualifications. Woodfinden concludes, “Our sales roles are challenging, so we need to recruit the best people we can find and give them the support they deserve. Many of them are graduates who are serious about building their sales skills and progressing their careers – so offering salespeople the chance to gain ISM qualifications is as good for them as it is for us. It’s a genuine ‘win win’.” ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:03
ON THE MOVE
G A D G E T S F O R D I S C E R N I N G P RO F E S S I O N A L S
WHAT’S MORE
TOOLS FOR THE JOB | GADGETS
PROJECTOR
LOOKING GOOD
This is Viewsonic’s M1 ultraportable LED projector, which is a cut above most on looks (and has won a design award). It’s also big on sound with dual built-in dual Harman Kardon speakers. It delivers 250 ANSI lumens at full HD (1080p) resolution, and has HDMI, USB, audio out and MicroSD connectivity. The integrated stand allows the projector to be placed at nearly any angle, while also doubling as a lens cover. It’s out now. PRESENTER
SIMPLE POINTS
LOTUS EXIGE SPORT 410
SECONDS COUNT
APP
A bit of escapism – or perhaps not for those with a major commission cheque – is the Lotus Exige Sport 410, part of a range that includes a track model at the top. The 410 though is a road machine, and features a 3.5 litre V6 engine producing 410 hp at 7,000 rpm and 420 Nm on tap from 3,000 to 7000 rpm, and is capable of shifting you from 0-60 mph in just 3.3 seconds. The car takes the chassis, suspension and dampers from the Exige Cup 430, which is the track car, and re-tuning the three-way adjustable Nitron dampers for a road bias and to suit the car’s revised aerodynamic set-up. These can be customised to your requirements (rebound and low and high-speed compression) along with the Eibach adjustable front and rear anti-roll bars. This car is all about driving performance and you have to pay extra for aircon and the like – but the days of driving cars like this are surely numbered.
This app is described as a simple way to take the complexity out of your CRM system. All you need to do is record each visit and phone call you make using FieldSmartr on your smartphone or tablet. It’s a standalone cloud opportunity management system and integrates with CRM systems such as Salesforce. The mobile app has GPS mapping to locate clients. For details see fieldsmartr.com
NOTEBOOK
TRACKPAD GETS SCREEN Asus has come up with something new for its flagship Zen notebook range – the trackpad in the ZenBook Pro 15 and Pro 14 models is actually a touchscreen called ScreenPad, which offers “novel ways of interacting intelligently with both Windows apps and dedicated programs called ScreenPad apps”. Supported initially is the Microsoft Office suite. These are top spec 14 and 15 inch notebooks and the 15 inch model is out first.
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
9 Gadgets V4.indd 3
Logitech has launched a new laser presenter, the R500, a “hassle-free remote for better presentations everywhere”, and has also released software updates for its Spotlight presenter, which is a more upmarket device as it works on TV screens, web meetings and multiscreen setups, as well as with usual projectors. SMARTPHONE
CALL THE SHOTS
Huawei’s P20 Pro could give Apple and Samsung a run for their money in the premium smartphone sector. It has a 6.1in full HD+ OLED screen, although it’s not quite as high-res as the others in its class, and has 128 GB storage and 6 GB memory, powered by a octa-core Huawei Kirin 970 processor. It also has great battery life. But if you are a camera buff, the P20 Pro calls the shots, as it has no fewer that three cameras – a main 40 MP colour camera with an f1.8 lens, a 20 MP monochrome camera with f1.6 lens and an 8 MP telephoto camera with an f2.4 lens.
WINNING EDGE 9
22/06/2018 15:04
Empathy and drive are the key characteristics of successful sellers, argues BESMA 2017 winner LAURENCE WINMILL
I
’ve been banging this drum for as long as I can remember, but with over 30 years of selling under my belt I can say with confidence that the age old art of selling is as important today as it has always been. As an entrepreneur, I’ve started several businesses and managed multiple sales teams, and like most business owners I can tell you that unless someone in the company sells something then very quickly everything else begins to slow down, and if that pattern PERFORMANCE continues the business will eventually fail. SOLD ON HUMAN In the modern digital age, where Q U A L ITIE S computer algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) do many things that human beings once did, I still believe more than ever that there is a place for quality salespeople who understand the importance of human interaction and are able to stand out and make a difference in an overcrowded marketplace. Why? Simply because they can communicate and connect using the human characteristics that AI will struggle to comprehend or reproduce. Every client is different, as are their business needs, and having the ability to identify clearly their individual requirements, and then match those needs with a product or service that is bespoke to them, is what closing deals is all about. I’ve recruited hundreds of salespeople over many years into multiple different businesses in various sectors, including media, retail, financial services, property, automotive, hospitality, pharmaceuticals and, most recently, digital communications. Every business had different products and services available, with individual products or services valued from as little as 99 pence to £1m plus. But in every one of those businesses, the salespeople needed to demonstrate the basic human characteristics of empathy and drive. During the recruitment process, they had to provide evidence they possessed these essential qualities that bring success in any performance environment. Experience, glittering CVs and glowing references count for nothing if emotional intelligence and a desire to succeed are not inherent. The challenge for any sales manager or recruiter is to have the ability to identify these LAURENCE WINMILL (pictured above with the trophy) characteristics at interview. Very often they are is CEO of David Spear Commercial unable to do so because they themselves simply Vehicles, a dealership based at don’t have those qualities, despite their job status. Tredegar, South Wales. The company won the award of In early 2016, I began consulting with David Senior Leadership Team of the Spear Commercial Vehicles, whose owners had Year at BESMA 2017. Visit www.david–spear.com high ambitions to grow the business. I eventually 10 WINNING EDGE
10 Comment Winmill V2.indd 2
COMMENT
joined as CEO, and at the outset of 2017 we set out a programme of radical change that would transform the company and propel it onto the national stage. Our business transformation strategy centred on three key areas – people, process and management – inspired by strong leadership. We set clear goals and business targets, created a structure that allowed innovation, and invested in talented people in well-defined roles to make that strategy work. We gave our managers the freedom and support to manage, empowered our people to innovate, and were very savvy with our marketing. Unit sales and performance exceeded all expectations, confidence swept through the business, and we celebrated wave after wave of new achievements. We set out to disrupt our marketplace, and the nucleus of that strategy was sales. Those basic recruitment fundamentals were put in place, and we developed internally, and searched externally, for people with those all-powerful characteristics of empathy and burning desire for success. We entered several national awards as part of our marketing plan and in alignment with our vision and were rewarded with two major successes: the Autotrader Business Transformation for Independent Dealer and the ISM’s BESMA award for Senior Leadership Team of the Year. Both awards were special, but BESMA was extra special, because it recognised the huge effort that was applied to sales and the management and leadership of the business into a different league of performance. BESMA 2017 was a huge part of that story, recognising the remarkable achievements of 2017. The success has since flowed into 2018 as belief in the brand is thriving. Having brilliant salespeople alone is not enough to transform a business. But without the flair and dynamism that a quality sales function creates there is no business. Despite huge technological changes in the way we interact, the art of selling remains the lifeblood of any organisation. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:04
PATRICIA SEABRIGHT explains how to nourish sales change initiatives
V
ADVICE S AL ES CH AN G E HOW DOE S Y OUR GAR DE N GR OW?
P of sales Julia Dobson (not her real name) sat in her office, deep in thought, perplexed and troubled. Sales numbers were on a consistent downward trend that had been going on for months. She had a meeting coming up tomorrow with the new CEO where she was going to have to explain the situation, and she was struggling with what to say. She had started the role a year ago full of energy, undaunted by the declining sales figures she had inherited. She had quickly identified some of the key issues, particularly a poor new opportunity pipeline, largely due to salespeople being unwilling and unable to step out of their comfort zones and develop business in new sectors, with new customers. She had put in place a great new sales process and CRM system to address these issues. The system was live, the training had been completed months ago, and yet still the sales figures refused to tick up. Just then Julia’s friend Sandra came breezing into her office. Sandra was a VP from another division of the company. “What’s up?” said Sandra. “You look like someone just died.” Julia explained the situation and said, “I just don’t know what I’ve got wrong – did I choose the wrong process, or the wrong system? Is my team so bad that it’s beyond help? Either way, I’m going to be in deep trouble with this new CEO...” Sandra sat down to talk it through with her friend and asked her a few questions about the process and the system and what had been done. Then, rather surprisingly, she asked, “Do you know much about gardening?” It was an odd non sequitur, but Julia went with it, “I’m no gardener – in fact only the hardiest perennials survive in my care – why do you ask?” “Well,” said Sandra, “If you want to grow something, be it a plant or a better sales team, then there are steps to go through to make it happen. First, you must prepare the ground. If you plant something in already crowded soil, full of other flowers, weeds, shrubs etc. it will struggle to take hold and grow. It sounds like what you did was put new processes and a CRM system on top of all your existing systems and processes, and guess what? It is struggling for mindshare and adoption with ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
11 Advice Seabright V2.indd 2
PATRICIA SEABRIGHT is director of UK-based Archimedes Consulting. She is an expert in sales effectiveness, working with organisations to identify barriers to success and implement programmes – which may involve benchmarking, sales methodology, skills, motivation and systems – to deliver improved results. She is also a Miller Heiman Group consulting partner. Email pseabright@ archimedesconsulting.co.uk, call +44 (0)7789 487034, or visit www.archimedesconsulting.co.uk
your team. It’s a good process and a good piece of software, but in gardening parlance it’s getting choked off by the weeds.” “OK, I think you might be right there, but what can I do about it? I can’t just drop the other business processes we have,” replied Julia. They agreed that what Julia could do was look at all the systems, processes, meetings and reports that made up her full sales system, identify overlaps, get rid of redundancies, waste and rework, and so clear some space – some fertile ground for the new processes and system to thrive. “So, once you’ve created a good environment and actually planted the seed – the training and the software implementation – what do you have to do next to make a plant grow?” asked Sandra “I guess you’ve got to water it and perhaps chuck a bit of plant food on it?” replied Julia. “Absolutely,” said Sandra. “Planting isn’t enough. You’ve got to nurture it – feed it, water it, make sure it gets enough light; some people even talk to their plants. What have you done to nurture your new process and CRM system?” As they talked more, Julia realised that she’d thought that running the training and getting the
“If you want to grow something, be it a plant or a better sales team, then there are steps to go through to make it happen” software operational was enough. She realised now that, without considerable nurturing of the initiative, it would fail. “What do you think I need to do to nurture this plant back to life, and have it start to change behaviours and actually make a difference to my ever-declining sales figures?” “You need to look at embedding what people learnt when they were trained,” said Sandra. “I think making sure your sales managers are willing and able to coach this would be the best thing to start with, and then you might consider things like masterclasses, online reinforcement and reviews, publicising and encouraging successful adoption.” “Wow, that’s a lot to do, but thanks Sandra,” said Julia, “The good news is that I don’t think my ‘plant’ has quite died yet. I think I can salvage this initiative and really make it work. And at least I now have a plan of action to talk to the new CEO about when I see him tomorrow. You may have just saved my career!” “No worries,” said Sandra. “You can buy me a nice aspidistra to thank me!” WINNING EDGE 11
22/06/2018 15:05
BACK TO THE
FUTURE TOM NASH takes three longstanding ISM members on a nostalgic trip down sales memory lane – along with some thoughts and advice on what lies ahead
12 WINNING EDGE
12-15 Cover story V3.indd 2
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:06
RETROSPECTIVE | COVER STORY
TERENCE HATHAWAY
phones were a great asset and the internet has transformed our ISM Fellow, managing director and owner ability to access, well, everything. But there’s a catch. In recent of Alexander Grant Associates times it feels as though there are so many alternative tools that we It was my toughest sales challenge – the first are actually losing the common sense and communication abilities appointment. There I was, so green and wet so necessary for the sales process. This is a problem-solving behind the ears, but full of self-belief, sitting in business, and if people rely too much on emails then our basic front of the chief engineer for one of the UK’s skills of interpersonal communication will decline. major constructors. “So Terence, tell me why I My sales career has given me the opportunity to work in many should choose your company,” he asked. I countries and various industry sectors, and through this I have stumbled a few times, and by the time I left I was been privileged to meet many great business managers and in a full sweat. But, importantly, I noted the owners who have subsequently become my friends and key questions I could not answer, and I rang him the next day and network contacts. At Alexander Grant, we specialise in many qualified every outstanding question. We won the business and my areas of international business development, including the sales path had begun. positioning in the UK of EU companies that have decided to From this and many other events like it, I learnt about purpose establish a new division here. and working towards a greater vision beyond the all too common, From the ISE to the ISM it has been a long journey, through “We’re here to hit quarterly KPIs”. Remembering my lessons in many years when there has been business turbulence. At times, the quality and detail from these early meetings enabled me to learn levels of sales training and professionalism in our industry have quickly and shape my craft. been poor. Today, sales and business development has evolved Take a step back to the early 1970s, when my career began as enormously but, more than ever, the need for true sales an engineering apprentice in the heating, ventilation and air professionals is a fundamental component. conditioning (HVAC) industry. This taught me more than We must continually ask ourselves: How do we help salespeople engineering skills. It also gave me a grounding in professionalism, fulfil their potential? How do we give them a clear pathway to quality and attention to detail, leading to a site management role progress from entry-level sales to first time manager and on to at the age of 21 and my first real taste of people senior leader – along with the necessary skills management. and experiences to do so? We must always “We must continually Throughout this initial period, I always remember that talent costs, and while every ask ourselves: How do watched the methods of management and sales company wants this talent, developing people and I developed a keen desire to direct my career repays the investment in many ways, not we help salespeople towards sales as my next step on the ladder. financially alone. fulfil their potential?” Then fate intervened. Following a road I have always felt the need for the total accident and the write-off of my car, I was engagement of the teams I have had the reading the small ads when I spotted, “Sales engineer required pleasure to lead, for them to gain more and achieve their goals. – must have industry experience – company car supplied”. Well, It concerns me that today’s organisational structures are such I needed the car, and believing my HVAC role had given me that leaders setting the objectives often carry on blindly thinking the right experience (it hadn’t), I applied, was interviewed with everyone is on plan, and therefore on the same journey, when this 36 others and somehow gained the position. is so obviously not the case. But still they ignore the signs. At that time, I was introduced to a gregarious character, all I was recently at an ISM event where I listened to one of the football manager sheepskin coat and Rolls Royce, his very image best speakers on this subject I have heard, who introduced me to a the stereotypical one of a salesperson. But John Fenton knew what great product for the continued development of any business, in he was talking about and was very determined to make the role of the form of the Engagement Multiplier (created by Stefan sales engineer a recognised profession. After all, he said, “Would Wissenbach), which addresses this vastly overlooked area. It could you go to a dentist or doctor who was not qualified?” And so the possibly be one of the single most important tools every company Institute of Sales Engineers (ISE) was born, later to become the should embrace and have as their principal barometer, because as Institute of Sales and Marketing Management (ISMM), and now the saying goes, “Every road goes there, when you don’t know the Institute of Sales Management (ISM). where you are going.” The Institute gave me the chance to show I was serious about Along the way, many people have offered me beneficial advice, my chosen profession, so I joined, before obtaining the Registered which has guided me as I have tried to navigate the sometimesQualified Sales Engineer (S’Eng) qualification, which really made confusing map of a career in sales. Today, I would advise any me feel I had arrived. aspiring or ambitious salesperson never to lose sight of the fact This was the early 1980s, a time of stratospheric interest rates, that there will be times when everything is not rosy. Continue Maggie, and most of all an incredible optimism that we were all to believe in your own abilities, and have the tenacity and going to be millionaires. It was a time when being a salesperson commitment to keep going against all the odds. In the end, the felt much more fun – we derived real enjoyment from tracking the lessons from these tough times will make you stronger. objective, making countless calls, and striving to be one step ahead Finally, the activities that prove most challenging are those that of the competition. At a time when the sales process took much matter, so constantly stretch yourself. To reach these goals, you will longer than today, the relationships with people were very real. need to be entirely engaged. Then you can enjoy the feeling of a The nature of how we did business was so different. job well done and have a clearer idea of what went well and what I have built my career by embracing change. The first mobile did not. These lessons will be key in deciding your future path. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
12-15 Cover story V3.indd 3
WINNING EDGE 13
22/06/2018 15:06
COVER STORY | RETROSPECTIVE
ANNA BRITNOR-GUEST
merged and then bought out by management. While each change ISM Companion, founder and growth consultant was unsettling I kept on looking after my customers and winning at Leading Edge Coaching business, with the result that once the dust settled I found myself My first job in sales was knocking on doors promoted or in a stronger position. Those lessons I’ve described making appointments for a burglar alarm stood me in a good stead. company around Cardiff. That funded me Fast-forward to 2002 when I set up Leading Edge Coaching. through my final year of college. I was good at it We specialise in helping B2B companies in complex or fastand enjoyed it, and that led me towards B2B changing markets, like IT and technical sectors, to grow their sales. From friends who’d already graduated I revenues and profits. I work in the UK and internationally and figured out that the land of opportunity was in have a “roll up my sleeves” approach to helping clients develop the “computers” – but as a humanities graduate, that skills, processes and capabilities they need to adapt and grow. was more or less all I knew about IT... Over the years I’ve developed a sales methodology that aligns to My careers adviser couldn’t understand that tech sales was my the customer buying journey. I use this to help clients map their goal, and told me that to get a job in marketing I might have to own customer journeys to grow their business. A clear structure bear a stint in sales first... In 1989 I was one of only two successful that focuses on the customer’s journey is essential to identifying candidates of over 100 to be recruited onto a graduate sales career and replicating success factors. Often, companies don’t have a programme with global data/electronics company, Harris shared or clear sales methodology in place, which makes it hard Corporation. I was young, just 5’3” tall, with big hair, big shoulder for leaders to really know what’s going on and for salespeople pads and big ambitions. to learn and repeat what works. I’m excited to be getting our Harris was a perfect grounding. My manager, Peter Howells, programmes endorsed by the ISM and certified for Brinkerhoff was a fantastic mentor who supported me at every stage. By 21, High Performance Learning Journeys. I was out visiting customers on my own – these were senior IT I gain great satisfaction from making a difference for clients, managers in large blue chip companies and public sector councils. demonstrating clear growth. If growth were easy they wouldn’t They were all older than me and, with only a couple of need me, so we have to work through and overcome the challenges exceptions, male. And that’s where I learnt an they face. It’s enormously rewarding to see important lesson: be good at what you do. salespeople flourish in their roles, develop their “Never stop learning. I knew from the doubtful tone with which confidence and skills and go on and up in their Ask for training, find some of my contacts asked about my level of careers. Helping that journey is a highlight of mentors and coaches, knowledge, they questioned whether this young, why I do this. I also love that I get to operate female rep could really be of any value. But when internationally and have learnt so much from don’t be afraid to ask I was able to hold my own in the conversation working with different business cultures. questions, and learn and got things done, I stood out because I was a Overall, I’ve been 30 years in sales, 29 in from role models” bit different. But, of course, you have to be complex B2B sales. Now, if I were to give advice different in a good way. to those who aspire to a career in sales, I would My most satisfying achievement was becoming top sales simply say, “go for it”. The best opportunities for me have come performer within about three years of joining – and then staying from going with an idea. top. I didn’t set out with that goal, but to be the best that I could I would especially encourage girls and young women to consider be. I had a lot of energy and drive. I worked hard, and late when the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) necessary, to make a proposal as good as I could get it, and I sectors. All I ever hear is how difficult it is for women to work in assumed all our competitors were sharper, cheaper and better STEM. No wonder so many pick different careers. I want to than us so we had to pull out all the stops to win. I worked closely redress the balance by saying I haven’t found it difficult – and with the support teams, listening to them and supporting them. maybe you won’t either. I was persistent. I didn’t give up the first time a prospect said And never stop learning. Ask for training, find mentors and no to a meeting. I did what I said I’d do, so that colleagues and coaches, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and learn from role customers learnt to trust me. I played the long game, putting models. Above all, put yourself in your customers’ shoes and learn myself in their shoes, and steadily built relationships in small ways from them. until they were ready to award us the big contracts. And I made And join the ISM, of course. I joined the ISMM (as it was then) sure that I got better at my job. It was a continuous process and as a Fellow in January 1998, becoming a Companion in February for that I learnt another lesson: build support. 2013. Professions need a strong, professional body and sales is no In these collaborative days, we talk about support networks. exception. As a Companion, I feel the onus is on me to contribute Back then I just saw it as seeking out those people who knew stuff to the ISM as much as to benefit from it. Being a 2018 BESMA I didn’t or could help me do things I couldn’t. Some of it’s social judge and having our programmes endorsed by the ISM are really and I worked in a team – and we were in an era when pub exciting. The world is constantly changing and I am looking lunches and post-work drinks were common with both colleagues forward to the ISM expanding its support for members to share and customers. They were great for getting to know each other experiences and learn from each other. and having a laugh. When I or one of my customers needed I didn’t plan my career – most people don’t. But I’ve been open support it was a lot easier to work together – and I was better able to new things, and I hope I’ve still got another 20 working years of to support my colleagues in return. new opportunities to explore. I have left youth, shoulder pads and Over the time I worked for Harris the division was sold off, big hair behind, but I am still 5’3”, and still have big ambitions! 14 WINNING EDGE
12-15 Cover story V3.indd 4
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:06
BOB TOMLIN
87 year-old ISM Fellow Bob Tomlin’s industrial sales career spanned 30 years from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s HOW DID YOUR CAREER START?
“Listen to successful sales professionals in businesses you have an interest in. Choose products or services you really believe in”
In 1947 I graduated from Slough Technical School where I had studied mechanical engineering. From 1949 to 1951 I served in the Royal Naval Air Service, where I was trained in electronics. In 1957, at the age of 25, I emigrated to British Columbia, and then in 1960 to California, where I progressed from design draftsman to manufacturing engineer.
WHEN DID YOU GET INTO SELLING? It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that I was really attracted to sales. I liked the prospect of working on a wide variety of projects, involving many manufacturing disciplines and products. I relished the challenge of solving engineering issues with the products I represented. I was first employed as a sales engineer, as salespeople were known, by Connolly & Company, a manufacturers’ representative. I spent over six years there, becoming sales manager and vice-president.
DID YOU MOVE AROUND MUCH IN YOUR CAREER? Yes, over time I moved on to a number of other organisations in the UK and US. They included the SCCA – the prime US automobile road racing authority; UK manufacturers Serck Services and ImhofBedco; and Zero Corporation, a Californiabased maker of metal enclosures. In the early 1980s, after a short spell with Wyle Laboratories, I joined the Optima division of Scientific Atlanta as their western states sales manager based in Los Angeles, and then to their Atlanta headquarters as national sales and marketing manager.
AND YOU FORMED YOUR OWN COMPANIES TOO? The Optima division was acquired, and in 1988 I formed Acurep Associates, a representative company. I sold Acurep in 1994 and returned to England intending to retire, but some of my principals prevailed upon me to represent them in the UK, so I formed and operated Container Sources.
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
12-15 Cover story V3.indd 5
SO WHEN DID YOU FINALLY RETIRE?
WHAT WAS YOUR TOUGHEST SALES CHALLENGE?
In 1999, I crossed the Pond yet again to retire to sunny Arizona, my home for the past 19 years. Overall, I have resided in the UK for 36 years, in Canada 3 years, and the US 48 years. I hold dual UK and US citizenship.
The toughest challenge is always beating the competition. To do that, you must satisfy customer needs – and, in turn, to do that you must be constantly improving knowledge of your product and the advantages it offers.
HOW DID YOU HEAR OF THE ISM?
AND YOUR MOST SATISFYING CAREER ACHIEVEMENT?
While I was at Imhof-Bedco in the 1970s, I learned of the ISMM (as it was then) from a national newspaper article or advert. Appreciating the value of professional recognition, I submitted my application with details of my prior technical sales and marketing experience. I was very pleased to be accepted as a Fellow by the Institute, and to receive a certificate permitting my use of the appropriate Fellowship designation on my business cards. I sincerely wish that the many excellent services, training and networking opportunities that the ISM now offers had been so easily available during my career. They would have been a great help.
Progressing from manufacturing sales representative to senior sales and marketing management in both UK and US companies.
WHAT SALES SKILL DID YOU FIND MOST USEFUL? Listening carefully to the customer to identify their needs and priorities accurately in order to be able to satisfy them.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING SALES PROFESSIONALS? Listen to successful sales professionals in businesses you have an interest in. Choose products or services you really believe in.
WINNING EDGE 15
22/06/2018 15:06
FEATURE | NEGOTIATING
HOW TO WRESTLE AN ADVANTAGE SIMON BUZZA summarises his 12 rules of negotiation
W
hile organisations make a significant investment in sales skills, a crucial element of capability development is under-resourced and poorly executed – and that element is negotiation skills. So, we decided to develop our most significant observations and recommendations on negotiation – those we see most often through our training and consultancy work – and define a set of 12 rules of negotiation. The purpose for sellers is straightforward – to help them to negotiate more effectively with buyers. Over the past six editions of Winning Edge I have explained these 12 rules in some detail. In this, my last article in this series, I provide a summary of them – and some final thoughts.
RULE 1 IF YOU DO NOT ASK YOU WILL NOT GET! l How can you achieve your aspirations if
you do not ask your customer or prospect for the business? l Lack of conviction and failure to close the deal are the main downsides if you don’t. l You may be pleasantly surprised by the answers you receive if you do.
RULE 2 NEGOTIATIONS ARE WON IN ADVANCE l Negotiations are won in the planning and
preparation, not at the table. negotiators spend enough time on planning, preparation and rehearsals. l Spend four times the duration of the actual negotiation on your preparation, planning and rehearsals. It will show! l Only about 4% of
16 WINNING EDGE
16-18 Buzza V2.indd 2
RULE 3 KNOW YOUR ENEMY AND KNOW YOURSELF
l As ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu
said in his treatise, The Art of War, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” l Understand the buyer’s perspective and the balance of power. l Spend 50% of the preparation time looking at the other party’s perspective.
RULE 4 UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN VALUE
l There are three aspects to value – financial,
operational and personal. Clarify them before you start and use them all. l Understand benefits not features, and so bring solutions to needs – not a product set at a price. l Focus on your points of differentiation or you will compete only on price.
RULE 5 EACH CUSTOMER HAS DIFFERENT VALUE TO YOU l All customers are not equal. Sellers use the
“customer positioning matrix” to assess the relative importance of different customers, and therefore how they should be managed. l Buyers use the “category market positioning grid” to assess the relative importance of each category of spend. l Understand both tools and bring the appropriate strategies to bear for different customers. Don’t handicap yourself by being a one-trick pony. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:07
NEGOTIATING | FEATURE
RULE 6 PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE
l Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “Persuasion is
the art of getting people to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do if you didn’t ask.” l So, know about the three types of proof used by persuasive speakers: Ethos (ethical – character and reputation), Pathos (emotional appeal), and Logos (logic). Aristotle understood it all rather well. l People buy from people they like and trust. l People make decisions emotionally and then justify or validate them through logic. Use your customer’s emotions to your advantage. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
16-18 Buzza V2.indd 3
RULE 7 YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW l Think about the implications of
your words and actions – they have repercussions and people have long memories. l Our behaviours affect our results – for good or ill. l Any agreement that leaves one party dissatisfied will come back to hurt you later.
RULE 8 COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
l Learn to communicate effectively in every way,
not just through words alone
WINNING EDGE 17
22/06/2018 15:07
FEATURE | NEGOTIATING
l People make judgements based on external cues,
including appearance, dress, handshakes etc. l So, mind your own body language, tone and non-verbal communication. l The better you become at using non-verbal communication and reading the non-verbal messages others send, the more effective in negotiation you will be.
RULE 9 GIVE AWAY NOTHING FOR FREE
l Four key tendencies for giving away value are:
habitual “expensive” persuasion styles; treating relationships as more important than commercial outcomes; unassertive behaviour; and a lack of understanding of value. l Get into the right mindset before the negotiation. l Trade everything: “If you do X then I can do Y.”
RULE 10 BE PREPARED TO WALK AWAY
l There is nothing quite so empowering as knowing
you can walk away from the negotiating table without a deal. If the other party knows you have to settle by a deadline, all they have to do is set their terms and conditions and wait for the deadline. l Understand your key “tradables” and the potential “zone of agreement”.
RULE 11 UNDERSTAND THE POWER OF SILENCE
l Silence is an extremely effective negotiation tool,
but most negotiators are supremely unaware of the power of silence, or they use it badly. l Use silence after making an offer, asking a question regarding a problem or implication, and after being challenged.
RULE 12 SMILE AND SAY ‘NO’ UNTIL YOUR TONGUE BLEEDS!
l People are more inclined to trust and do business
with people who smile.
l Put “No” into your negotiating vocabulary – it
works. It is how you say “No” that counts – do you want them to improve their offer or are you rejecting them outright? l Good negotiators are very persistent.
IS THAT IT?
SIMON BUZZA is a Fellow of the ISM and founding partner of the NewDawn Partnership, an advisory service that focuses on delivering operational improvements to the buyer and seller interfaces of a business. Visit: newdawnpartners.com
18 WINNING EDGE
16-18 Buzza V2.indd 4
So, are the 12 rules all there is to negotiating? Incontrovertibly, no. Negotiating requires a complex mix of hard work, practice, skills (technical and soft) and techniques, and the application of good processes. So, there is a good deal more to it than just the 12 rules. On the other hand, will the 12 rules improve your negotiating? Unquestionably, yes. I strongly urge you to read them, mull them over, and then take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself this
simple question: “Is what I am doing in a negotiation enhancing or diminishing the potential outcome?” A little honesty has the potential to deliver a massive payback here.
IT’S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE
As you scan the 12 rules, it becomes increasingly clear that negotiation is a people business. Regardless of the balance of power between two parties, negotiations always take place between human beings. And because people are individuals, their pressures, hopes, objectives, options and priorities are very often different from those of the brands and businesses they represent. Humans still love a great in-person experience. As a negotiator, your value is not in stonewalling or commoditising, but in having a vibrant, engaging and provocative negotiation with a client, which helps them look at their challenges in new ways. Another reason why people skills are so very important in a negotiation is because the negotiation that you are currently involved in is probably not going to be the last one that you’ll have with the other side. How they feel about the outcome of the negotiation on this occasion will play a big role in how they will approach all future negotiations with you. You want them to be satisfied with this negotiation’s outcome so that they’ll be willing to negotiate with you again at a later date. So, develop your soft skills especially your awareness of self and others (EQ) and this will significantly help you in your negotiations.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As we enter a period when digital technology and artificial intelligence look set to expand with enormous and rapid leaps into commercial life and practices, it is worth remembering a few salient points: l People buy from people – especially people they like and trust l All products and services, and indeed, all customers and clients, are not equal. We have preferences, emotional attachments and chemistry in relationships, which affect our decisions about who we are going to buy from and sell to l In business, you don’t get what you deserve – you get what you negotiate l You can be as professional, or as amateur, as you choose at negotiating. Your deal-making fate lies in your own hands. Through understanding the 12 rules of negotiation, and by following the advice contained within them, your negotiations will improve, your results will get significantly better quickly, and you will become more respected in your relationships. There is an unexpected by-product too: these rules and guidelines are applicable – and bring benefits – in life as well as in sales. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:07
ISM MEMBER BENEFITS
Start saving with the ISM! ISM members can enjoy valuable new benefits
l
l
l
l
I SMyBenefits will offer a wide range of discounts, specifically chosen to support you both personally and professionally. As an ISM member you’ll automatically be eligible to access these benefits at www.ismm.co.uk by virtue of your membership.
Family savings
he benefits offered will provide significant T cost savings on products and services you normally purchase, potentially saving you much more than the cost of your ISM membership subscription. There’s even a nifty savings calculator on our member benefits page, where you can find out just how much you will be able to save.
l Great
rom cinema tickets, meals out and F domestic appliances, to grocery shopping, home insurance and professional training, ISMyBenefits has it covered. esigned to make ISM membership D even more rewarding, ISMyBenefits provides a wide range of offers across the following categories:
l Discounted
cinema tickets out more often, and pay less l Earn cashback at over 50 major retailers lR educed entry on top UK attractions from Merlin Entertainment
l Dine
Lifestyle savings on Apple products discounts at over 2,900 gyms l Discounts on domestic appliances l Access to NUS Extra student discount card lC orporate
Travel lD iscounts
on top package holidays savings on over 80,000 hotels in the UK, Europe and worldwide lD iscounts on airport parking, airport hotels and airport lounges lG reat
Insurance l Great
value life insurance on car and home insurance l Discounted travel insurance l Discounted roadside assistance lS avings
Professional development lD iscounts
on hundreds of business and sales books lA ccess to IT and professional development training
Advice lC omplimentary,
no obligation financial advice consultation with a professional adviser* l Independent mortgage advice at preferential rates* *Financial advice and independent mortgage advice is provided by Lighthouse Financial Advice Limited, an appointed representative of Lighthouse Advisory Services Limited. Contact details can be found on the benefit pages at www.ismprofessional.com. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up payments on your mortgage.
THERE IS NO SIGN-UP PROCESS AND NO EXTRA CHARGE, SO LOG IN AT ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM TO START SAVING! 19 ISM AD V4 copy.indd 2
22/06/2018 15:12
FEATURE | SALES INCENTIVES
FOLLOWING THE MONEY PETER COLMAN presents the first in a series on behavioural economics in sales management – reacting to biases to grow profits
“Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome”
T
his famous quote from Charlie Munger gets straight to the point regarding the behaviour of individuals (and companies), and as vice chairman of the hugely successful US investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, he is certainly someone who understands how this links to long-term financial gain. Nowhere do incentives play a bigger role than in the steering of a salesforce, with its successes and failures impacting heavily on earnings. Given their importance, how can sales leaders and their remuneration committees galvanise their salesforce to outperform the competition and increase profits? As businesspeople and leaders, we’d like to think that our decision-making is wholly rational. Unfortunately, studies of how people make decisions – the hot topic of behavioural economics – show that this is often seen not to be the case. We are heavily influenced by a range of biases that can cause irrational and often detrimental actions. If we want to run a smart sales incentive scheme, it is important to consider these biases during their design. As a topline-focused consultancy, we at SimonKucher are asked to conduct many commercial excellence programmes every year. Consequently, we are frequently called on to assess our clients’ sales incentive schemes. Here, we’ll cover a few of the biases we have most frequently observed, and consider how sales organisations can either counteract them or deploy them, depending on their usefulness.
20 WINNING EDGE
20-22 Colman REVISE.indd 2
BIASES TO COUNTERACT 1. “REVENUE IS VANITY, PROFIT IS SANITY” (ATTRIBUTE SUBSTITUTION BIAS) “It’s crazy. My previous firm paid me on gross margin; here it’s revenue. I’ve told the management at least twice that they should change it but they haven’t listened. So what am I supposed to do? I want to stay top so I’m going to beat my quota!” This was a direct quote from a client interview I conducted with the leading salesperson at a large manufacturing company. We hear things like this on a regular basis. While remuneration committees usually want to increase profitability, profit-based incentive metrics can seem complicated. Substitution for a revenue-based metric seems like an easy option, but this assumes that salesforce behaviour will remain similar. The reality in most cases is that this gives little reason for the salesforce to fight for higher prices (see box opposite, “Do the maths”), so deals get closed through discounts in order to move on to the next prospect quickly. As price is every company’s strongest profit lever, this discounting behaviour results in a damaging effect on the firm’s bottom line profitability. 2. “A SALES PLAN FOR SALESPEOPLE BY SALESPEOPLE” (DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT) Creating good incentive plans requires a considerable amount of work to be done in both the plan design and the financial modelling. If ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:55
SALES INCENTIVES | FEATURE
“Nowhere do incentives play a bigger role than in the steering of a salesforce, with its successes and failures impacting heavily upon earnings”
you’ve developed lots of these you will be aware of the many pitfalls. Unfortunately, nonexperts don’t always realise the limits of their knowledge and often overlook this complexity (the Dunning-Kruger effect). I remember very clearly the case of one firm where the sales leadership team designed their own scheme to help their salesforce compete. It was best summarised as, “We won’t lose on price”. During one account team meeting I sat in, the energy was palpable as a group of 10 or so account managers planned how they could collectively maximise their commissions for that year. While we should expect that, it was clear from the discussions that the plan had serious flaws. Not only was the scheme revenue-based, but the sales leadership had used such strong kickers that they had effectively poured lighter fuel on the fire. As the price war broke out, profits plummeted. The scheme was killed before the half-year point and a remuneration committee, including representation from finance and human resources, was created to try sort it out – while the after-effects in the market remained.
“ DO THE M ATH S ”
The scenario below shows the dangers of revenue-based incentives on profitability. Alan and Lucy are account managers who are both working on a similar deal with different customers. Alan closes his deal with an agreed discount of 10%, whereas Lucy negotiates a bit harder and closes with a 5% discount. They are both paid a 1% commission on net revenue. Look at the difference in terms of outcome for the company and for the salesperson. Lucy makes her company £5,000 more profit than Alan (ie. 100% higher) yet receives an extra reward of only £50 (5.6% higher) for the effort she put into achieving that outcome. The incentive to negotiate harder isn’t really there.
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
20-22 Colman REVISE.indd 3
ALAN
LUCY
Gross revenue Discount Net revenue Cost Profit for company Reward for salesperson (1% commission on revenue)
£100,000 10% £90,000 £85,000 £5,000 £900
£100,000 5% £95,000 £85,000 £10,000 £950
WINNING EDGE 21
26/06/2018 09:55
FEATURE | SALES INCENTIVES
3. “HOW BIG IS THE POT?” (FRAMING EFFECT) How does your organisation think about the money used to pay the salesforce? Do you think about it as a cost, a budget or an investment? These varying types of framing can result in very different incentive plan designs. For example, we’ve come across lots of schemes where doubledigit growth was wanted but the budget requirement was cost-neutral – even when an increasing, yet still self-funding, scheme would have been far more sensible. We recommend thinking about investment, as this focuses the remuneration committee on what proportion of annual revenue should be re-invested and also what the expected return on investment and acceptable risks should be.
PETER COLMAN is a partner at global strategy and marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners, where he leads the sales effectiveness practice for the UK and Ireland. He specialises in commercial excellence programmes to address strategy, sales, marketing, and pricing. Email peter.colman@simon-kucher.com or visit www.simon-kucher.com
“OF COUR SE W E K NOW W HO OUR BEST RE PS A R E ” One of our clients was very surprised when we decided to rank one of their account teams by profit, rather than their usual ranking on revenue. When ranked on revenue, Josh, Daniel and Esther were the top reps and life was pretty uncomfortable for Martin, Kirsty and Steve. The results can be seen in the “Revenue rating” column below. But look now at how the situation changes based on profit. Now Paul comes out top (+14 places), with Josh and Esther maintaining the top 3 positions (in yellow). The bottom 3 (in red) changes too, as now their “worst rep” Steve has shot up to a highly respectable 6th position. Kirsty is up in the middle of the pack at 14th, and Martin is struggling even more at the bottom. Finally, take a look at Dave. His behaviour was quite interesting and the best analogy for this is, “You don’t have to run faster than the lion to get away – you just have to run faster than the person next to you.” When Dave was struggling on his numbers he’d offer big discounts to bring in the deals. This kept him in the middle of the pack and off the radar until his profit performance was made transparent, earning him the nickname Discount Dave. (He has since worked hard to reverse this, showing that peer comparison can also be a strong motivator.)
Salesperson Josh Daniel Esther … Joe … Dave … Paul … Martin Kirsty Steve
22 WINNING EDGE
20-22 Colman REVISE.indd 4
Revenue rating
Profit rating
1 2 3 … 10 … 12 … 15 … 18 19 20
2 9 3 … 18 … 19 … 1 … 20 14 6
4. “WE MUST HAVE A CAP!” (AVAILABILITY BIAS) A data-driven remuneration committee will be able to monitor the exact number of really big individual payouts granted. Too often though, the evidence is anecdotal – these occurrences are easily remembered, while the bulk of more moderate cases don’t stand out. This “availability bias” unbalances proceedings, resulting in too strong an influence from the exceptions rather than the normal situations. This fear causes a watering down of the scheme, often by capping the payout. The outcome: a demotivated salesforce, the exact opposite of an effective incentive scheme. BIASES TO ADOPT While the above biases need to be counteracted, there are others that we recommend deploying: 5. “I’M NOT ALLOWED TO GIVE ANY MORE DISCOUNT” (LOSS AVERSION) People generally dislike losing things more than they like receiving them. If used wisely, this loss aversion can be a powerful ally. We’ve helped numerous companies deploy incentive schemes where the more discount the salesperson uses, the more of their payout is sacrificed. This can be made even more powerful if combined with the next bias. 6. “IT TELLS ME WHAT I EARN FROM THIS DEAL” (PRESENT BIAS) “Present bias” tells us that people place more weight on things that are happening now compared with at some point in the future. Consequently, we like to incorporate the incentive calculation into a salesperson’s quoting tool. That way, as they vary the parameters of the deal, they see live what their return will be. USE DATA TO DRIVE CHANGE A carefully designed incentive scheme will guide a salesperson’s decision-making, and can therefore steer the behaviour of the salesforce. To do this well though, knowledge of both traditional and behavioural economics is needed. While we’ve seen lots of schemes based on rules of thumb or gut feel, there really is no substitute for detailed analyses of the existing scheme (using salary benchmarking, quota attainment vs pay-out, survey questionnaires etc.), and thoroughly stress-testing the planned new scheme (estimated return on investment, payout variance, winners vs losers modelling etc.). Only when you are fully armed with this data are you in a position to prepare the communication collateral you will need to explain the change to the new scheme to the salesforce. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:55
YES “Is that Mr ........ YES” ”Responsible for ......... YES” “and your company does ...... YES”
Right Person, Right Job, Right Place ”and GDPR safe to use - YES”
Your best sales prospects Accurate, detailed, up to date AND GDPR safe to use.
25
YEARS
text pages.indd 1
01626 777 400 sales@corpdata.co.uk
www.corpdata.co.uk
22/06/2018 15:41
FEATURE | SALES PERFORMANCE
HOW TO IGNITE YOUR SALES GAVIN INGHAM delivered a keynote on behalf of the ISM at the recent Sales Innovation Expo 2018. His theme was building world-class sales teams, and here he presents a summary
A
re your teams frazzled, constantly battling against obstacles and drowning in day-to-day problems? Do they struggle to find time to focus on their most important tasks? Does it sometimes feel like Groundhog Day, where your people seem to be just going through the motions, day after day? Do you feel that only a small percentage of them are on fire, and the rest are just smouldering, lacking that crucial spark of motivation, commitment and passion? What could you achieve in your business if your teams were more motivated, more focused and more productive? What if you could light the touch paper, stand back and watch them ignite? Well, you can. Here are eight strategies for building world-class sales teams.
1
FOCUS ON ATTITUDE Skills are incredibly important. Your salespeople should have world-class skills. They should know what skills they need and undertake consistent and ongoing training to sharpen their techniques. But, once they have these, the magic comes when you add the right attitude. Skills without attitudes are like trams without rails – they look great but they are not going anywhere. World-class salespeople operate at 10/10 – the best that they can be. They know that if they do not, they will lose clients, blow opportunities and struggle to persuade clients of the value they deliver.
2
MOTIVATE FROM THE INSIDE OUT Many people are motivated from the outside in. They allow people, events and circumstances to affect the way that they feel. For example, they carry the negativity from one situation into the 24 WINNING EDGE
24-25 Ingham V3.indd 2
“I have always supported the ISM in its mission to improve professionalism in the sales industry, so I was delighted to be invited to represent the Institute at this year’s Sales Innovation Expo” ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:28
SALES PERFORMANCE | FEATURE
next, and the next, dragging everyone down. How many salespeople do you know whose performance is affected for the rest of the day after a couple of bad calls? Or for the rest of the month after loosing a deal? Or forever after deciding that their product is overpriced and too difficult for them to sell? Top performers are motivated from the inside out. No matter what goes on – lost sale, rude customer, last minute negotiation, complaint, stuck in traffic, etc. – they find a way to be in the best possible mindset. They know that they, and only they, can take control of their mindset and they protect it at all costs.
3
BE BRUTALLY HONEST Most people lie to themselves. They lie to themselves about their skills, their attitudes and their abilities. They lie to themselves about why they lost the deal, why they were overlooked for promotion and why their relationship is falling apart. If you want to be a world-class leader with high-performing teams, you need to assess your strengths as a leader, a motivator and a manager, and assess the strength of your teams in all areas – mindset, skills and processes. If you want your teams to be truly top notch, you need to help them to assess themselves. Rather than standing around the water cooler moaning about how losing that deal “wasn’t my fault”, consider what you did to cause that situation, what you could do differently next time, and what you must learn.
SA LE S I NNOVATI ON E X P O Sales Innovation Expo is among Europe’s largest and most important events for professional sales leaders. Held at Excel London, it presents the opportunity to hear from 100 speakers offering cutting-edge advice, including some of the best-known sales thought leaders and experts. l ISM would like to thank its speakers this year, who were Marcus Cauchi, Mark Erskine and Darren Spence, as well as Gavin Ingham. l An annual event held over two days, Sales Innovation Expo hosts 95 informative seminars, 35 interactive masterclasses, and 200 exhibitors demonstrating the latest sales technologies, products and services. It equips sales directors and managers with the latest knowledge, advice, systems and tools to improve sales performance. l Sales Innovation Expo 2019 will take place on 27-28 March 2019 at Excel London. For more information, visit www.salesinnovationexpo.co.uk
6
GET YOUR ‘10’ ON All work and no play make Mr or Ms Sales a very dull person, and dull people do not sell very much. So ask yourself these questions every day: l “How can I be a ‘10’ today?” l “How can I help my teams to be a ‘10’ today?” l “How can I help my people to be the best that they can be?” And don’t forget, this is an ongoing task. One manager once asked me when he could stop working to help his team to stay motivated The answer is never. Every day, the world offers you and your teams negative experiences, beliefs, stories and news, so it is up to you to redress the balance. What you focus on consistently is what you get, so you need to focus on being motivated.
4
DREAM BIG Do your teams come in and go through the motions or are they inspired? Most people come to work and live the same day over and over again. They forget why they do what they do. Some never knew. And some will never know. Sad. Help your people to dream. Help them to connect with why they do what they do, where they want to go, and how it helps them to achieve what they want in life. Coach them and help them to translate those dreams into goals – for work and for life.
EVALUATE YOUR PERFORMANCE If something is worth doing, it is worth measuring and monitoring. I love the WLC – Win, Learn, Change – approach. Get into a habit of sharing what is working, what you have learnt and what you are going to change. There is no point in looking back with regret, but there is huge value in learning from the past and looking forward with renewed optimism and vibrant new strategies.
5
8
PLAN Most people seem to assume that because they know something, others do too. They assume that because they think it is obvious how to plan their time, and then execute those plans, that others do too. Not so. How can your salespeople know how to plan their approaches, their sales,and their diary unless you teach, coach and support them in best practices? Help your people to plan their campaigns and then support them in implementing these to maximum effect. Then stand back and watch the activity and the results take off. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
24-25 Ingham V3.indd 3
7
GAVIN INGHAM is a leading motivational speaker on mental toughness, helping clients “to be more, do more and have more”. A Fellow of the ISM and a regular Winning Edge contributor, he advises sales professionals on mindset change, explaining how to get consistently better results – in business and in life. Visit www.gaviningham.com
DO ONE THING Many people want to make life complicated. They give you dozens of things to do just to prove how clever they are and to justify the value in what they do. Value is not determined by quantity, but by results. Doing simple things well is what gets results in sales. Doing simple things consistently well is what makes superstars and high performance teams. This is not rocket science. So, what one thing do you need to do as a result of reading this article that will help you and your teams be a “10” more consistently? WINNING EDGE 25
22/06/2018 15:28
FEATURE | ACCOUNT PLANNING
26 WINNING EDGE
26-30 Hoyle REVISE.indd 2
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:57
ACCOUNT PLANNING | FEATURE
GET SMART
TO PLAN STEVE HOYLE and GARRY MANSFIELD describe how best to develop an account planning strategy
I
n the 1980s structured, strategic account planning became more pervasive, and in recent times technology has emerged to support this. And yet only 18% of B2B companies are truly happy with the quality of their account plans (according to 2017 research on B2B sales leaders by Outside In). Here, we look at the process of great account planning and ask whether the use of technology brings value and improves the strategic account planning process – or is it a step too far?
and understand, as completely as you can, the situation you face. This is certainly true of account planning, where your goal is to advance your company’s position with a customer, deliver more value and, as a result, deliver growth. Key to making this work out well is to take a well-rounded and ruthlessly honest look at your situation, rather than doing an assessment through rose-tinted spectacles. Account management is a team sport and the best-performing companies are able to line up their resources behind a cohesive account plan. In the THE ACCOUNT PLANNING PROCESS assessment take advantage of these multiple For as long as businesses have had customers there touchpoints and use workshops to collaborate so as has been account planning in one form or another. to capture inputs from across the team. This builds a When done correctly it will help salespeople make more complete assessment, and has better levels of advances in their relationship with a customer. This team buy-in for implementation, when compared to brings competitive advantage an individual filling in an to their company and makes it account plan template and easier to sell more, at better simply filing it. ASSESS WHERE YOU margins, with less effort and Effective meeting techniques ARE TODAY increased customer like brainstorming and satisfaction. Together, this will root-cause analysis can help in deliver their quota more these workshops (they could be predictably and allow them to conference calls) to encourage take control of their book of the team to think deeply about business. the assessment issues. A simple REVIEW ASSESS A good account planning and often-used approach to process follows a simple cycle summarise the assessment is to of four steps: starting with an use a SWOT analysis, though honest assessment of the it is rarely used well. In DO PLAN situation, planning next steps, account planning this means taking the right action, and identifying the opportunities reviewing progress. and threats in the customer’s The first step in any strategic selling environment and the planning activity is to assess strengths and weaknesses of ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26-30 Hoyle REVISE.indd 3
WINNING EDGE 27
26/06/2018 09:58
FEATURE | ACCOUNT PLANNING
your company’s relationship with the customer. Key considerations in an account planning-based SWOT analysis are: External environment (The customer’s world, captured as opportunities or threats) l The customer’s strategic direction and key objectives – where are they headed and what does this mean for you? l The customer’s spending landscape – where they invest their money in related areas to your business and who with – does this point towards growth or risk of loss/decline? l The competitor landscape – which incumbents are failing to deliver and what new entrants could disrupt your position? All of these factors are external to your ability to influence them directly. It is here where you identify opportunities for advancement or growth,
CASE STUDY: M OTIVATIN G M A RY Mary is an account manager in a technology company and manages a single key account that represents 8% of company turnover. The company has long had account planning, but until recently this simply meant it distributed an “account plan template” annually, for the account managers to complete. Mary understood that in her role she should have an account plan, but often she would put it off for as long as possible. She knew it would take a lot of time she couldn’t afford, and as far as she knew, no one would look at it anyway. The templates changed a little every year, so it was an effort to cut and paste the information into the new template each time, which meant having to go back and forward into the Salesforce system for data to enter into the document. Stuart, Mary’s manager, was sure his team had account plans. He admitted he rarely actually read one, but whenever he asked about them his salespeople reassured him that they had them (somewhere). But he was not able to track progress of account plan building or implementation of the actions. Periodically, he would try to do
28 WINNING EDGE
26-30 Hoyle REVISE.indd 4
account reviews, but they were often bumped for other “more urgent” matters. Coming up to the annual budget and planning review each year meant he must decide where to assign his limited resources to deliver his number. He usually sent out a spreadsheet to get some input from his team on their accounts, before combining sheets to model his plans. The recent implementation of account planning tools into the CRM system has made a huge difference to both Mary and Stuart. Capturing plans directly into Salesforce has made it much simpler for Mary and her teammates to build and update account plans. And making it simple has helped hugely in increasing adoption. Stuart is amazed at the level of information he now has on the account management activities in his team. Detailed KPIs for each account enable him to measure and analyse progress across accounts, giving him fresh insights to track adoption and inform the planning process. He has fully transparent account plans and can easily roll-up the information he needs to support his decision-making.
and threats to your current position with a customer. Internal environment (The point of intersection between the customer and your company, captured as strengths and weaknesses) l Overall, how advanced is the B2B engagement with the account across sales, services, marketing and executive contact? l How do you perform against measures of success such as service level agreements, customer experience feedback and revenue trends? l Do you have the right things in place to enable success, such as framework contracts and commercial terms? All these factors are within your sphere of influence. You can choose to invest in doing them better should it be necessary. Taken together this SWOT assessment will help you to see where you have issues and opportunities. There are some things to get right here: l Have a simple and consistent structure to the assessment l Collaborate as a company team l Be completely honest and objective – or you risk just kidding yourself... TAKE A WALK INTO THE FUTURE Following a brutally honest assessment of your position in the account landscape, it is often tempting for the average account manager to quickly spot short-term opportunities and chase these straightaway – the fabled low hanging fruit. Yet, it is proven that the best account managers (the most successful over the medium and long term) take time to think through what they really want to achieve, and then carefully consider the different options that they have. We have found it is important to be clear about what you want to achieve, and in this process to be challenged on how stretching your ambition is, while at the same time being achievable. So that key stakeholders understand what the company is trying to achieve, goals should be detailed and SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. A clear set of goals with detailed objectives is key to proactively growing an account to maximum potential. More difficult is figuring out how to achieve these aims. Using a team approach, your manager, or even an independent coach, can challenge and support your efforts to deliver an innovative, proactive and winning plan. The team should be encouraged to think creatively to define the overall approach and strategy. In practice, we find that whiteboards, post-it notes and flip charts, ideally in a team environment, are the best tools for developing bold ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:58
ACCOUNT PLANNING | FEATURE
yet achievable plans. This often involves heated debate about the best way to proceed, though this is to be encouraged as a good team dynamic. Crafting your plan is often an iterative process, with those around you challenging your proposed goals with simple questions, such as: l Is that goal really stretching or are you just working in your comfort zone? l Is that goal realistic, given where you are today? l What other options have you considered?
Leading indicators
Lagging indicators
lG rowth potential in revenue terms
lW allet share percentage
l Pipeline cover relative to target
l Win rate percentage and by value
l The health of the relationship between
l Value of closed won opportunities
your company and the customer (B2B) l The health of the relationship between account and customer team contacts l Progress on delivering account goals l The level of activity on each goal – is enough being done to advance?
l Revenue trend l Account type segmentation
TURN PLANS INTO ACTIONS Unrealised plans are worse than no plans at all. As Henry Ford observed: “Dreams without actions are merely hallucinations.” the plans never see the light of day and are not The outcome of a great planning session will often reviewed. It is this type of approach that turns probably take the form of a series of photos of the account manager off account planning, as they handwritten notes and, by themselves, these are not see it as a needless call on their limited time. going to bring about any actual change in what we Sales leaders must do better. They have to see do with the account. account planning as a key strategic discipline and However, documenting the output clearly is invest sufficient effort into the process themselves. important, and in the past this has often been Key to success is the effective use of account achieved by simply re-writing the notes into a reviews. It is here where managers have the PowerPoint or Word document. This is a good opportunity to add value through effective discipline for the account manager, allowing them challenge, coaching and creative input. Account to review their thinking and encouraging them to reviews performed by capable sales leadership capture actions clearly. It is not a task to be create an environment where plans are pushed to delegated to an administrator or junior member of the next level. Leaders challenge the assumptions the team. and assessment, but they Over recent years, tools also look to the future, “A well-documented plan is a working with the account have become available to team to create a joined up simplify the process of major step forward, but in itself a vision and strategy for the capturing the plan, and this plan is not more than words account and then support has coincided with the need without action” them to execute this to engage and coordinate strategy. account team actions. Account planning is an iterative process and it is Organisations and account teams are increasingly wise not to expect perfect plans the first time turning to these applications to improve the productivity of their account planning process. around. It takes time to fine tune them, and They make recording the plan easier and also help scheduled reviews at regular intervals will help to to interlock, communicate and track activities and drive this culture. tactics across the team. Managers can use insights from key performance During this phase of planning it is critical to: indicators (KPIs) to improve the quality of decisionl Review, check and refine the outputs of the making. The right KPIs will help them to manage planning sessions and coach individual and team performance. l Ensure that all of the plan is clearly documented Combining these measures across a portfolio of l Confirm buy-in to the plan from “action-owners” accounts, and across their team, also allows for and stakeholders. comparison of performance, helping with decisions A well-documented plan is a major step forward in areas such as resourcing and targeting. The box for most, but in itself a plan is not more than words above lists some common KPIs that can help to without action. measure account level performance more broadly than revenue alone. EMBED REVIEWS INTO Three key issues in the review phase are: BUSINESS AS USUAL l Build effective reviews into your ongoing sales For many companies the annual or six-monthly management process email arrives in the inbox of an account manager, l Coach for development and advancement – don’t “Please find attached the latest account plan just pick holes to show how clever you are template – complete this and send to/save to x by l Regularly review the KPIs for account the end of the month,” or similar. Once complete, management to track progress. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26-30 Hoyle REVISE.indd 5
GARRY MANSFIELD is founder of Outside In, working with B2B sales teams to help them find a better way of selling. He recently launched AccountPlan to support better account planning in Salesforce. Email garry@oism.co.uk, call +44 (0)7825 815986, or visit www.oism.co.uk
STEVE HOYLE is author of Real Account Planning and consults, coaches and trains account managers and sales managers on how to develop great account plans. Email steve.hoyle@linksdev.net, call +44 (0)7785 381563, or visit www.realaccountplanning.com
WINNING EDGE 29
26/06/2018 09:58
FEATURE | ACCOUNT PLANNING
EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY IN THE PLANNING PROCESS The development of an account plan is an iterative process that requires the team to use different skills at each stage: hard-headed analysis during the assessment phase; creativity when crafting goals, objectives and strategies; and discipline to detail, capture and execute a set of planned activities. The role of technology is this process can be significant, particularly when it comes to documenting, tracking and collaborating on the development of a plan. In many companies, account managers have to develop their plan using a document template of some sort (document, slides or spreadsheet). The process requires them to take inputs, including contact and opportunity information from their CRM system, and enter them into the right section of the plan. Any double-keying will be time-consuming and inevitably will often lead to errors. When technology is easy to use, adoption levels for account planning increase. These tools can create lots of data points that account managers and their management can use to extract insights to support decision-making and reporting. The use of CRM-based reports and dashboards helps sales management to easily track plan development and reviews, monitor progress, and visualise the position of accounts in the portfolio. The use of such tools makes it simple to aggregate and analyse the performance of accounts right across the portfolio.
However, while technology “Implementing an effective has potential for significant planning process benefits benefit, these tools must fit into a broader business from a good, modern, process – where reviews and user-friendly system” coaching are central to account management activities. Too many organisations forget the real purpose of account planning, which is to use the company’s resources to sustainably increase sales (and margins). This requires innovative, carefully crafted plans that are executed and managed well – tasks best completed by a wide team of stakeholders with a common interest in advancing their company’s position. You can go so far with offline account planning – many teams can certainly go a long way further than they do today. But while this will help your engagement with your most important customers, if you ignore technology you will almost certainly be missing a trick. The use of technology can help in building and documenting your plans. This simpler approach can help to raise adoption levels for account planning significantly through improved transparency and measurement. The age old business adage still holds: you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Our overall conclusion is that planning is a craft that needs intelligence and debate, but implementing an effective planning process benefits from a good, modern, user-friendly system.
C ASE STUDY: E DU C ATI NG E DWA R D My first introduction to Edward left me very confused. His recently appointed sales director asked me to work with him on his account plans, which were apparently “worthless”. Yet his immediate sales manager had told me, “Ed’s a great example to the team.” What I quickly understood was that the account planning system being used was actually reasonably good. (In our experience many are simple derivatives of 1980s sales systems.) Ed really was an exemplar in terms of having detailed account plans in place. The system statistics showed 100% completion, with all of his plans updated recently, and all assigned tasks completed on time. Reading the content of the plans, however, left me totally underwhelmed. While complete, the goals and objectives set were simply a conservative extrapolation of previous business levels, with an acceptance of business as usual,
30 WINNING EDGE
26-30 Hoyle REVISE.indd 6
including not competing for business outside the areas where he was already positioned as the principal supplier. Reviewing his strategies and tactics, there was no innovation, no disruption to existing positions, and no building relationships beyond his traditional contacts. I discovered very quickly that Ed’s approach to every account was remarkably similar, even though they were in very different business situations, at different stages of relationship, and had different levels of spend. I then asked Ed a couple of simple questions: “What have you decided not to do?” and, “What alternatives did you and your team consider before deciding on these particular goals and strategies?” I was met with a glazed look in his eyes and he clearly had little idea why I was asking these questions. To be fair to him, it was not really Ed’s fault. He had been well trained on how to input into a
system, but not how to build effective plans. Plus, his manager had praised him for just completing all of the boxes and updating things regularly, so it wasn’t surprising that he just did as he was told and produced account plans that looked good, but didn’t result in any additional revenues, and didn’t involve or engage with others in the account team. I ended up going back to the new sales director and explaining that, if he wished, I would work with Edward, who was a diligent and hardworking individual whose performance was a little above average. A far wiser investment, however, would be for me to work with his sales manager – along with running a couple of short workshops with the whole team – to explain what account plans are supposed to achieve, and how to develop critical thinking skills so that they could use their system to much better effect. Steve Hoyle
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:58
CHARITY PROMOTION
ISM GETS BEHIND GARRY!
Winning Edge contributor GARRY MANSFIELD is pedalling for Parkinson’s UK. We’re giving him our support – please do so too
I
SM Fellow, BESMA judge and regular Winning Edge contributor Garry Mansfield (pictured right) will be throwing himself into a gruelling 980-mile bike ride in September, inspired by his friend Pete’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s aged only 45. Land’s End to John O’Groats, from the southwest tip of England to the very top of Scotland, is an iconic bike ride and a true challenge of endurance. There’s no doubt that riding hundreds of miles and climbing nearly twice the height of Everest in nine days will be tough. But Garry is going for it: “I have always worked in sales and my competitive spirit makes this a challenge I’m really up for,” he says. After posting the planned challenge on social media, Garry was contacted by small business owners Darren (a university friend) and Gavin (a previous manager) who volunteered to join him. Gavin’s friend Scott is flying in from Colorado to complete a cycling quartet. The Fab Four will be flying the flag for the ISM following our agreement to sponsor the team’s cycling jerseys. The four are expecting a tough start on 8 September, with a hilly route across rugged South West England, followed by the hills and valleys of Wales, a day through the Lake District and into Scotland, finishing over the majestic, but mountainous, Highlands on 16 September. “Pete, a decorated Metropolitan Police Officer, was diagnosed last year. It came as a huge shock, and is having an ongoing affect on his family life,” says Garry. “I chose to support Parkinson’s UK because its work is life-changing for Pete and many others like him. With the generous support of the ISM and Winning Edge readers, among others, I hope to smash through my fundraising target”. Garry is hoping to raise over £3,000 and is nearly half way there. Parkinson’s UK will use the funds to run local support groups and develop new treatments that can potentially slow, stop or even reverse Parkinson’s. Please give generously.
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
31 Cycle promotion V2.indd 2
To support Garry and Parkinson’s UK visit www.outsde.in/ LEJOGforPETE or use the QR code
WINNING EDGE 31
22/06/2018 15:18
FEATURE | GROWING SALES
HOW TO BUILD HIGH GROWTH Kicking off a new series, RICHARD HIGHAM and ALAN TIMOTHY provide data-led insights that will help achieve impressive sales growth
A
chieving and sustaining high levels of growth takes effort. It means juggling multiple factors, any one of which can bring everything tumbling down. While it’s fascinating and impressive to see an accomplished juggler at work – it all seems so graceful – it’s easy to forget the hard work and strong grasp of physics that underpins the effortless performance. Here, we introduce five essential elements that together enable sales leaders to make sales-growth performance look and feel graceful. 1. GOALS One of the most striking aspects of recent research into sales performance is how often sales teams are missing their goals. Here are 10 reasons that show how goals can easily be missed because of the way they are set up: l The target has been set from the top down in order to meet corporate strategies and goals. The target is a wish-list that bears little relationship to what has been achieved l The target has been inflated as it goes up and down the line. What may have started out as a valid and validated figure has fudge factors built into it until it becomes unrealistic l This fudge factor is often linked to a low-trust environment where everyone thinks everyone else’s view is at best unrealisable and self-serving l The sales target is built around the compensation plan, rather than the other way round. The targets are designed either to keep motivation high or costs low, with scant regard for the business context 32 WINNING EDGE
32-35 Timothy V3.indd 2
l The sales target is set too late in the financial year.
By the time the targets are in place much of the selling for the period should have already started. The length of the buying cycle and the inevitable time lags make hitting the target in the period much more difficult l The target is based on flawed data. This could be as simple as getting average order values or predicted conversion ratios wrong. The assumptions do not reflect accurate data l Individual targets are set simply by dividing the overall target by the number of sellers. They do not take into account different customer bases, territories etc. Nor do they reflect existing capabilities and individuals’ potential for growth l The sales compensation plan is flawed and contains unintended consequences that do not motivate the sellers to achieve target l The goals have not been compellingly and clearly communicated. Sellers do not believe they will be able to achieve the required result l A culture of fear means that individuals and managers accept sales targets that they don’t believe in, rather than risk appearing uncommitted and preparing to fail. Sometimes, however, the goals set are realistic – but stretching – and the reason they are missed is to do with performance issues. We will explore these reasons in more detail in our next article. 2. RESULTS The second crucial element of sales performance is incorrect analysis and communication of results. If the data available to sales leaders and top ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:19
GROWING SALES | FEATURE
management is flawed then decisions will be flawed also, and remedial action will be taken too late or not at all. If individual sellers do not trust the sales result they receive, they don’t know where they stand and they question any direction or coaching they are given. Here are 10 questions to ask about the way your sales results are measured, analysed and communicated: l Are the sales results accurate? If sellers don’t trust the figures in the sales reports, their commitment to hit targets will be weakened l Is income recognition accurate and fair? I worked in one sales organisation where individuals regularly felt that their sales share did not reflect their share of the workload contributed. A sales team member might have 30% of the value of a deal attributed to them, whereas they felt they had made 60% of the contribution. Management was complicit, using sales recognition as a tool to keep their favourite ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
32-35 Timothy V3.indd 3
“One of the most striking aspects of recent research into sales performance is how often sales teams are missing their goals”
sellers happy, rather than to reflect reality l Are the sales results published in time? If sales results come out late then remedial action is delayed l Are the sales reports clear and unambiguous? Do salespeople, sales managers and senior management all understand the reports? l Are the results presented simply enough and in one format? Multiple sales reports confuse and frustrate. One bank I worked with required five different sales reports from five sources. People were creating their own spreadsheets to present WINNING EDGE 33
22/06/2018 15:19
FEATURE | GROWING SALES
information. There was immense duplication of major industrial companies. We measured the effort and no one knew which piece of data was changes in activity and then analysed the change in being referred to result. There were no significant changes in the l Is there a dashboard or summary in place that market environment, pricing, sales training etc. but gives people a quick snapshot that they can then there was a 98% correlation between the measured drill down into? changes in activity and the ensuing sales results. l Is the sales reporting sufficiently granular? Is it In another case, a market-leading distribution possible to see product mix, customer mix etc. business changed the job specification of depot quickly and easily? managers, so they did 10 sales visits a week rather l Do the sales results make it easy to see trends than five (ie. a 100% uplift in their sales activity). rather than simply provide information on absolute The revenue generated by this group of individuals figures? For example, is there data showing rose by 13% over a six-month period, again without 12-month rolling sales results rather than just those any change in the type of customer visited or any for the year to date? change in their capabilities. Our conviction, l Are sales to key accounts reported on, analysed therefore, is that the quickest and simplest – and and presented in a way that is accessible and useful usually the first – thing to do in lifting sales to key account teams? performance is to get the activity levels up. l Are the sales figures and the insights that come from them presented clearly at all levels – from 4. CONCENTRATION OF FOCUS individual sellers, through selling teams to other Concentration of focus is also a critical success departments and senior management? Clarity and factor in driving growth. There are several aspects transparency increase trust. to consider: With the setting of goals and the capturing of l Are the right people involved in the right stages results in place, what are the drivers of growthof the sales process? This could be a question of generating sales performance? Some time ago, I was using inside sales rather than outside sales. There is running a workshop for a good evidence emerging global bank in Jakarta. We that inside sales are not only “Three levers drive sales were located in an office effective in early stage lead performance: activities, tower block surrounded by nurturing and lower value concentration of focus, and building sites, with a crane deals, but are proving effectiveness” dominating each site. It themselves in taking large occurred to me that the deals through to completion. overall performance of each site was driven by the It could also be a case of using artificial intelligence performance of the crane – and that the crane (AI) to identify the most appropriate salespeople to take on different opportunities driver really had only three levers to work with. He could move the boom around, move the hook along l Are they talking to the right people at the right the boom, and move the hook up and down. levels? For example, one global bank’s trade finance Similarly, sales drive company performance, and team had traditionally dealt with shipping clerks sales management really only has three levers to when selling letters of credit. As they introduced drive sales performance. These levers are: more sophisticated products, they realised they were l Activities – “Are we doing enough active selling?” addressing the wrong audience and began building l Concentration of focus – “Are the right people relationships with senior financial managers. The talking about the right products/services to the right average order value rose dramatically people in the right customer organisations?” l Are they talking about the right products or l Effectiveness – “Are they doing all this in the best services? The main reason the bankers needed to possible ways?” change their contact points was that they were Let’s look at the three levers in turn. introducing new services around cashflow management and working capital. The buying 3. ACTIVITIES decisions were completely different, so the target When sales performance is described as a numbers audience needed to change. game people respond differently. Some agree and l Are they focusing on the right customers? We are point to a correlation between number of visits and currently working on a major segmentation exercise the result. Others fervently disagree, saying it’s not with a professional services organisation. It has about quantity, but quality. Of course, quality recognised that a one size fits all approach across a matters – but there is a clear correlation between multifaceted customer base is no longer viable, so it is sales activity and sales result. Here are just two now targeting specific resources at particular client examples. We analysed 200 salespeople in five groups – and seeing an immediate positive impact. 34 WINNING EDGE
32-35 Timothy V3.indd 4
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:19
GROWING SALES | FEATURE
5. EFFECTIVENESS Doing enough selling activities, and doing them in a more targeted way, will only take you so far. The final lever, effectiveness, is also vital. There are two elements to this lever: the individual capabilities of the sellers, and the power of the tools and processes available to them. When looking at individual capabilities we like to use the heading TASKS. The component parts, which are interlinked in many ways, stand for: Talent – The innate capabilities that individuals possess, almost as part of their DNA. One might include ability to build rapport or to come across as credible. Of course, these are to some extent learnable skills, but talent looks at a salesperson’s underlying strengths Attitude – Here we are looking at the mindsets that have such a big impact on sales success such as resilience and optimism Skills – The “ability to do” that might include negotiating skills or skill in using social media. Traditionally, selling skills have been developed through formal sales training, but more and more attention is being focused on coaching and on-thejob development Knowledge – This could be product knowledge, competitor knowledge or sector knowledge. The ways of acquiring, distributing and embedding sales knowledge are going through radical shifts with a move from one-off learning to “just-in-time” availability of knowledge for specific situations Style – Although we are committed to applying science to sales, we also recognise that individual flair and personality are huge assets. While working on the many exciting aspects of sales innovation it is important to identify and nurture individual style. Effectiveness is partly a development of the individual across the TASKS spectrum. It is also a question of having the right tools and processes in place. These can often be broken down into five stages or advances: l Diagnostic tools that help you gain a clear picture of the current and desired capabilities of a sales team, or which analyse call patterns and coverage l Formulating processes, such as formulating an effective sales compensation plan or a strategic account methodology l Development tools, such as innovative sales training using gamification or tools for imparting customer knowledge l Tuning processes that include field-based and virtual coaching tools, playbooks and memory prompts, among others l Re-calibration tools for measuring the impact of sales performance improvement measures, embedding changes in daily business, and ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
32-35 Timothy V3.indd 5
C A SE STU DY: GE NE RAT I N G SU STA I NE D SA LE S GROW T H A household brand was selling sports equipment through retailers. It was trying to increase the sales of a high-end optional component, but salespeople were failing to achieve their targets. The more they struggled the less they talked about it – even though the product was pushed at monthly sales team meetings, and people could see the flatlining sales and felt the pressure. Nothing improved until, instead of reporting results on a monthly basis, the business introduced an app to gather live sales visit data. Each day, at 1pm and 6pm, sales
managers received live data showing whether each salesperson had talked about the chosen product in a visit and whether they had closed a sale. Based on this instantaneous information, the sales manager called the salespeople and provided individually tailored coaching on attitude, skills or knowledge, as needed. This combination of changing how the business managed information, concentration of focus, and enhanced effectiveness generated a 300% improvement in sales results over a six-month period.
identifying future change that will require adapting the approach. Having tools and processes in place to cover these five stages is a powerful way of managing risk and improving performance. SUMMARY – FIVE KEY COMPONENTS We have opened up the five critical aspects of generating sustainable, high-growth sales performance. In summary: l Goals need to be set in a way that ensures that they are achieved and that they contribute to the embedded value of the business l Results need to be analysed and communicated in a way that underpins success and allows actions to be taken early enough l Activities need to happen at the right level, and improving the sales activity level is the fastest way to lift performance l Concentration of focus radically improves conversion rates and order value. Consider focus by the right people, on the right people, in the right customers, and about the right products l Effectiveness requires developing the right TASKS (Talent, Attitudes, Skills, Knowledge and Style) in individuals and ensuring the right tools and processes are in place to support them. We will be exploring these ideas in greater detail in future articles of this series. In the meantime, to see how the levers interact, and to gain a sense of where the emphasis lies within your sales team, take a few minutes to try the quick – and free – ACE Diagnostic at www.saleslevers.com
RICHARD HIGHAM (FISM) and ALAN TIMOTHY are directors of SalesLevers. Together with co-director Martin Allison (FISM) they cover the art, science and business of sales. Email richard.higham@saleslevers.com or call +44 (0)7712 588757.
WINNING EDGE 35
22/06/2018 15:19
FEATURE | KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
36 WINNING EDGE
36-39 Rogers REVISE.indd 2
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:59
KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT | FEATURE
EASY KAM, EASY GO?
Sellers take key account management for granted, but its future may be volatile. BETH ROGERS explains why
T
he business environment has suffered several shocks in the past few years, and ways of doing business have had to be adapted quickly. Sometimes it is a matter of continuous improvement and sometimes business models have to be rapidly reconfigured. Consequently, the way that business development is designed should be regularly reviewed. We have taken for granted for at least two decades that key account management (KAM) is a successful strategy for growing profitable revenue with major customers. But given the volatility and uncertainty in the global economy, how will key account management change in the next few years? THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY Researchers and practitioners have noted a number of advances in information technology that are affecting key account management, and which will continue to affect it in future: Knowledge – KAM has always been about deep knowledge of the customer. Technology can accelerate the acquisition and analysis of information about the customer, their markets and their competitive situation. Of course, the output from customer analytics systems still needs to be applied by key account managers to design better value propositions. More data also means better analysis of the relative strategic position of customers, which means that who or what is “key” can be more accurately assessed. In the early days of KAM, access to information could be a problem. The challenge for the future might be how to manage information overload. Collaboration – Intelligent devices (the Internet
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
36-39 Rogers REVISE.indd 3
of Things), messaging platforms, application interfaces and faster software development mean that suppliers and customers can transact business seamlessly. This should mean less focus on making operational things happen and more time to make key account management truly strategic. Multi-channel – Customers seek information, communicate and do business using a variety of channels. In particular, busy purchasing professionals use digital channels for information gathering and initial enquiries. They expect suppliers to support multiple channels and make their information and communication as easy to access as possible. This can make things happen more quickly, but requires investment in agility and effectiveness in all channels. Key account managers already do a lot of work over the phone and in online meetings; they have to be competent in whichever online meeting software the customer prefers. Although it seems as if travelling to do business in person is as popular as it ever was, the money and time that can be saved by doing follow-up meetings remotely will surely drive more contact online. Social media – Some social media platforms are useful for business communications. Market scanning and contact management via LinkedIn are acceptable in most organisations. There are some indications that social media use is associated with commercial success. It is possible that the use of social media helps to finesse understanding of decision-makers’ perceptions, which can help to improve discussions of value. The up-and-coming generation in the workplace is generally comfortable with relationship-building via social media. The key risk here is how data protection regulations apply, so WINNING EDGE 37
26/06/2018 09:59
FEATURE | KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
BETH ROGERS is an academic and author specialising in the study of sales and marketing. She is Visiting Fellow at the School of Business and Law at the University of Portsmouth, which is an ISM Corporate Member. Email her at beth.rogers@port.ac.uk
38 WINNING EDGE
36-39 Rogers REVISE.indd 4
companies should have “A key element in “Automation may have some clear policies about how social being recognised as a use, but we are a long way media can be used. sustainable business from robots replacing key Although information is to understand the account managers” technology may affect the sustainability credentials content and style of key of your supply base. This account management, it does not alter the need for is both from a pure sustainability standpoint, individuals with sophisticated business analysis and ie. wanting to use suppliers where possible communications skills to lead value delivery to who have the same values, but also as part of customers. The automation of targeted offers based business risk strategy.” on browsing behaviour may have some use in (cips-sustainabilityindex.com/knowledge) consumer markets, but we are a long way from robots replacing key account managers... Although the increasing complexity in many What is more likely to happen? Higher skills levels business sectors means there is more reason for will be expected from more members of the KAM suppliers and customers to partner, there is a team and in more segments in the customer tendency for business relationships to deteriorate portfolio. According to Bryan McCrae, sales over time. During the growth phase, when things psychologist and founder of Sales Motivations: are moving fast, there are incentives for suppliers “KAM selling competencies are becoming and customers to make things work. The maturing increasingly important. Attitudes and of business relationships is usually a time for going mindsets are not necessarily as fixed as was back out to do some market testing and making once believed. With appropriate input, such new demands on an incumbent supplier in order to as cognitive behavioural training and justify their status. Wherever there is potential for coaching, salespeople and teams can be conflict and/or an obvious power imbalance or helped to positively reframe and reimagine dependence, there must be robust risk management their altered roles.” by suppliers – key accounts can go toxic... (sales-motivations.com) Customers also need to beware of abusing their power. Suppliers can and do find ways to THE CHALLENGE TO CO-CREATE VALUE reconfigure the supply chain network, and there is In the past 20 years, buying decision-makers have reputational risk in being perceived as a customer become more interested in “value-in-use” and “total that drives an excessively hard bargain. Hence why cost of ownership” than an upfront trade-off some attractive brands will not do business with between benefits and price. In their terminology, some retail chains, and why some organisations get this is “value-based procurement”. They buy disappointing responses to their invitations to products and services for their outputs and how they tender. The future holds the prospect of both generate value in their company and for their longer-term co-creation of value and the risk of customers. Value is created by many people, not just short-termist commoditisation. Only customers the key account managers and engineers, but the who truly have a value-based approach can be users in the customer organisation, and other considered to have strategic importance and to be players in the supply network such as logistics worthy of key account management. partners. This is why key account teams need to be cross-functional, and they need to be collaborating HOW CAN KAM BE DESIGNED INTO with cross-functional teams in customer AN ORGANISATION’S DNA? organisations and the supply chain. Many companies have tried unique KAM divisions It is when supplier and customer are investing and various forms of hard and soft matrix together that we really know that key account management to make KAM effective and management is working. Some B2B value creation frictionless within the firm. KAM cannot be a rigid may have a very long lifespan, such as building a bureaucratic hierarchy slapped on top of other power plant. In such a case, the co-creation of company hierarchies, such as product divisions or value is not over until the plant is decommissioned, geographic divisions. In most companies, the deconstructed and the land reclaimed. In number of key accounts that require dedicated particular, the impact of a product during its use teams is few, but where they are needed, they can and how it ends its life are becoming more be substantial. In global suppliers serving global interesting to buyers, and this trend may accelerate. customers, perhaps with many partner Suppliers who can defend their environmental, organisations, it is not unusual for there to be key economic and social sustainability, ie. “planet, profit account teams of over 200 people. Those team and people”, will appear lower risk. Check out the members need to maintain consistent levels of Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s service to the customer across different physical (CIPS) Sustainability Index (CSI): environments, time zones and cultures. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
26/06/2018 09:59
KEY ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT | FEATURE
The involvement of senior managers in key account teams is important in maintaining focus, resolving internal conflict and sends very positive messages to the customer. Researchers have observed that it has a significant impact on the financial performance of key accounts, especially account share. If an account is truly key, it needs to have a senior manager as a sponsor, or at least companies need a board committee to oversee key accounts. As Christoph Senn, managing director of the Competence Center for Global Account Management at University of St Gallen, observes: “Companies that commit to creating such an executive engagement process can expect to benefit from hard-to-copy intimacy with their customers, which results in new, sustainable sources of competitive advantage.” The question then arises: how many key accounts can a board member manage? Probably not many, if the sponsorship is going to be of meaningful depth. Key account management is becoming more focused and specific because it involves investment, and the time of a senior executive is one of the most significant investments in terms of cost and symbolic status. But note, it takes a certain type of executive sponsorship to be productive – a creative, collaborative, problem-solving leader. The involvement of a senior executive should not undermine the status of the key account manager. It is a very demanding and complex role. Today’s challenges for the key account manager include balancing short-term financial targets with longterm relational goals, being the standard-bearer for the supplier to the customer and being the standardbearer for the customer to colleagues, having credibility from the factory floor to the boardroom in both organisations, and being a change agent within the customer and their own employer. These challenges will persist into the future, with a stronger focus on being an agent of change. Also in the future, more members of key account teams may have to cope with higher levels of problem-solving and conflict resolution in their roles. EASY KAM, EASY GO? KAM’s not easy. Nor is it going away. It is, however, evolving all the time. In the 1950s, we were told that marketing would make salespeople redundant; in the 1990s, that the internet would make their role obsolete. In fact, the number of people employed in roles that fully or partially involve selling has increased. Sales as a function has grown in terms of quantity and also quality. For the past 60 years, the emergence of KAM demonstrates that the leader at the customer interface is more strategic than ever before. Those account managers who can understand the nuances of co-creation of value will be highly valued for many years to come. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
36-39 Rogers REVISE.indd 5
C U R R E NT K A M TRE N D S CATEGORY
2018 TRENDS
Impact of technology
Purchasing continues to shift more resource to information gathering and transaction management online, and tries to focus time spent with suppliers on major discussions. Customer analytics help suppliers to understand customers in depth, and to fine-tune resource allocation across the customer portfolio. More business can be done automatically across interconnected software platforms. Communications take place across multiple platforms, including social media. The Internet of Things will make processes even more controlled by gadgets themselves, without human intervention. The data gathered should help customers use the products more efficiently, and suppliers to offer more services based on customer usage patterns.
Co-creation of value
Focus on “value-in-use”, which is co-created by the supplier, users in the customer, and the supply chain network. Complexity creates opportunities for partnership, but the risk of commoditisation persists. Purchasing professionals expect suppliers to compete on sustainability as an element of value.
Organisation for KAM
Key accounts have, if anything, become more powerful, and therefore occupy more strategic attention. The complexity of KAM means that key accounts must have board-level sponsorship. Ability to be an agent of positive change is pivotal in the key account manager role. More will be expected of key account team members.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This article is adapted from Chapter 10 of Malcolm McDonald on Key Account Management, by Malcolm McDonald and Beth Rogers, which includes material from a number of industry and academic experts. ISM members can receive a 20% discount on this book when purchased from Kogan Page using the discount code BMKKAM20. Visit www.koganpage.com Further reading: Gueselaga R, Baillie R, Holt S, Davies K, Speakman I. (2016). The Future of Key Account Management. Cranfield School of Management, Bedford.
WINNING EDGE 39
26/06/2018 09:59
LIFTING THE CURSE OF
KNOWLEDGE SARAH HINCHLIFFE considers how to fix a recurring problem that causes our sales proposals to miss the mark
MINDBLINDNESS “You should know that because I do”
FALSE CONSENSUS “I think so – so everyone else will too”
40 WINNING EDGE
40-42 Hinchliffe V2.indd 2
HINDSIGHT BIAS “But that’s just obvious”
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:21
SALES PROPOSALS | FEATURE
A
s salespeople, we cannot afford to confuse, frustrate or anger our prospects. Yet every day, salespeople and colleagues the world over are causing exactly those emotions with their writing. Sales proposals are often jam-packed with jargon, business speak, techno-babble and legalese, not to mention bad structure and poorly crafted language. Such documents risk misunderstanding, misinterpretation and false expectation. In the worst cases, your prospect may give up reading, unwilling to waste any more time fathoming what on earth you EGOCENTRICITY are offering. As a proposal consultant, I “I just don’t see it from edit reams of written content, often making sense of your point of view” nonsense. I marvel at how people can write in such a complex, obscure and cryptic fashion. Although some authors love to show off their expertise, most are simply suffering from the curse of knowledge – labouring under the assumption that their audience has as much knowledge as they do. When writing a proposal, it is easy to get wrapped up in telling the prospect how marvellous we are and describing all the bells and whistles of our product or service. We completely forget to consider who is on the receiving end and whether what we are saying will resonate with them. So, let’s unravel the curious concept of the curse of knowledge – how it is cast, how to recognise if you or your colleagues are suffering from it, and how to lift and banish it for forever. BREWING UP A POTION In embarking on this section, I openly admit that I am not a linguist or any flavour of psychologist. In short, we just need to recognise that a lot is going on in our heads that subconsciously influences how we put pen to paper. But here’s my layperson’s understanding of the complex ingredients of the curse. The first ingredient is “chunking”. Chunking is one of the methods by which we learn. Think of a chunk as a building block. We assemble our knowledge bank by connecting chunks of information into larger and more complex chunks – but we sometimes need to disassemble the chunks so our audience can catch on. Unfortunately, chunking contributes to complex writing. Imagine a banker describing quantitative easing (something few of us had heard of before the financial crisis a decade ago) to another banker. It would be easy because they ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
40-42 Hinchliffe V2.indd 3
are at the same “chunk level”. Ask the same banker to explain it to a child and the communication level would have to change. Quantitative easing is only comprehensible if you understand the underlying chunks. Kids get buying and selling, and they’ve probably been to a market. From there you can progress to explain about economies, economic policies, and so on. The second ingredient is “functional fixity”, the human trait of thinking about things in terms of their function rather than their form. Functionally, a dinner plate is an object from which to eat a meal. Form-wise, it is a fairly flat, hard, round, easily washable surface. Functional fixity matters because it leads to abstract and conceptual writing. Take Steven Pinker’s example: “Participants were tested under conditions of good to excellent acoustic isolation” (functional) as opposed to “We tested the students in a quiet room” (form). The latter is concrete and clear. Throw into the mix our four final ingredients – a dash of mindblindness, a pinch of egocentricity, a drizzle of hindsight and a splash of false consensus – and you’ve got yourself a tasty potion for prosaic disaster (see image, left). THE CURSE IS CAST You will know if you have been cursed if your audience fails to understand and engage with your proposal. This will typically be due to some critical symptoms of your writing: incoherence; acronyms and abbreviations; jargon and gobbledygook; complexity and clutter; and abstraction. Examine your own and your colleagues’ writing carefully to spot if you are afflicted – or better still, get an opinion from someone you trust. As with many things, admission is the first step to cure. If you have a positive diagnosis, read on. LIFTING THE CURSE There are some traditional remedies you can use such as, “Put yourself in your customer’s shoes” and, “Imagine the reader on your shoulder”. Who exactly is the audience – what is their role, their responsibility, and their knowledge level? Writing with the customer in mind is a good start. Make a working assumption that your customer is reasonably intelligent – you don’t want to dumb your writing down to a naïve and condescending level. It’s just that they may not understand things to quite the level you do. That said, let’s tackle the individual symptoms: Incoherence Incoherent writing is rambling and disjointed, without logical or meaningful connections. It is typical of someone who knows exactly what WINNING EDGE 41
22/06/2018 15:21
FEATURE | SALES PROPOSALS
“The main cause of they are talking about and simply dumps it “Such preparations shall be incomprehensible prose is the on a page. There’s no flow. There doesn’t made as will completely obscure difficulty of imagining what need to be – it’s all just obvious, to them. all Federal buildings and nonIncoherence is the first symptom to cure. Federal buildings occupied by the it’s like for someone else not A business proposal must be structured Federal government during an air to know something that you overall, and by section, so it addresses all raid for any period of time from know” STEVEN PINKER the customer’s points and tells your visibility by reason of internal or compelling story without losing the plot. external illumination.” The best medicine for incoherence is a content When President Roosevelt saw it, he plan. Think of it as a skeleton that you will flesh instructed: “Tell them that, in buildings where out – the bones give it shape and hold it together. they have to keep the work going, put something Take time to work out the overall story you want across the windows.” to tell, decide on sections and the key messages, Focus on getting paragraphs down to one key gather ideas for content that will fit in each point and sentences to a sensible average of section. Check with colleagues that the skeleton 15-20 words. As the eminent professor, William is the right shape before crafting the body. Strunk, put it, “Omit needless words,” whether they are adverbs, adjectives or other fluff and Acronyms and abbreviations bluster. If you choose your words wisely, you can Contractions and initials are like spots – they pop still achieve some personality in your writing and up everywhere and need treating individually. get your point across. No matter how obvious they are to you, always To test yourself, use software that will give you expand acronyms and abbreviations the first time readability statistics – there are various options and show the short form in brackets afterwards. based on algorithms that assess how easy your Don’t leave your customer guessing if ARMS prose is to read according to parameters such as stands for Aviation Resource Management sentence length and syllables. System or an Automated Records Management System or one of almost 200 other options. In a Abstraction proposal with many sections that may be split up The final curse symptom we need to eliminate is among evaluators, repeat this for each section. abstraction. Remember functional fixity? It leads And consider if a glossary would help. to writing about generalities, ideas, concepts or characteristics. In business proposals, we need to Jargon and gobbledygook write about real things – objects, events and At the heart of the curse, we will find words or people. We need to use concrete language with expressions used by a profession or group that examples and be clear about who is doing what, are difficult for others to understand. These to whom, when, why and how. words and expressions get spun into language rendered meaningless to the layperson. Check WARD OFF THE CURSE FOREVER out this example from Steven Pinker: Having followed this prescription – or got your “There is a significant positive correlation colleagues to do so – you should be feeling better, between measures of food intake and body and so should your customers. Your proposal mass index. Body mass index is an successes should start to increase. increasing function of food intake. Food But don’t forget that it’s easy for the curse to intake predicts body mass index according come back. Keep taking the medicine. Read to a monotonically increasing relation.” more, and learn about writing – there are plenty Put simply, it means, “The more you eat, the of great books and videos out there. fatter you get.” Check yourself. Take a break, then go back Remember George Orwell’s writing rule: and read your writing again before editing. For a “Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or really effective test, try reading out loud. a jargon word if you can think of an everyday There is a limit to how far you can edit your English equivalent.” Make sure you write in own work, so get an independent check-up. Get plain English. If you need to use a specialist someone else to read it – someone in your field term, then make sure you follow it with a short can assess accuracy and completeness, while SARAH HINCHLIFFE is a explanation and an example. someone outside your field can review it for director of i4 Consultancy and Design, which focuses on helping readability and comprehension. companies improve their win rates Complexity and clutter And remember the readability statistics – through sales and bid excellence. The curse of knowledge tends to cause prosaic always a useful test. This article is suitable for a Email sarah@i4salesperformance. co.uk, or visit i4salesperformance. diarrhoea – long sentences with many pompous 15-year old – about the right level for a proposal. co.uk With thanks to Steve Pinker and unnecessary words. Take this wonderful Oh, and for extra protection, you can always and his book The Sense of Style for inspiring and informing this article. example from a US government draft order: find a white witch – like me! 42 WINNING EDGE
40-42 Hinchliffe V2.indd 4
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:21
An Exclusive Offer for ISM Members Jonathan Farrington, CEO of Top Sales World describes the event: “There can be no doubt that today, we are experiencing an era of selling and marketing that is like nothing we have witnessed before. This requires a new modern tactical and strategic mind-set, which dares to challenge the status quo of traditional thinking. The primary objective of TSW18 is to focus on the future, rather than to dwell in the past and our ambition is to deliver a substantial world-class event, with world-class speakers in a world-class location.” The full ticket price is £495 per person although there will be an early bird discount of £200 in place until July 31st, bringing the cost down to £295. However, Top Sales World has created a unique offer for ISM members: Tickets will be just £195 per person until September 10th. To reserve your place, please REGISTER HERE: https://topsalesworld.com/topsalesevents/institutediscount/ We look forward to seeing you in London on September 13th, 2018.
Speaking at TSW18
Dr. Tony Alessandra Founder & CVO, Assessments 24x7 LLC
Richard Barkey CEO & Founder, Imparta
Lee Bartlett Founder, Bartlett Consulting Group
Tiffani Bova Sales Strategist and Innovation Evangelist, Salesforce
George Brontén Founder & CEO, Membrain
Deb Calvert President, People First Productivity Solutions
Brian Sullivan Vice President Of Sandler Enterprise Selling
Graham Hawkins CEO & Founder, SalesTribe
Christer B Jansson CEO, Confident Approach
Martin Moran Managing Director, International Insidesales.Com
Tamara Schenk Research Director at CSO Insights
Michelle Vazzana Partner, Vantage Point Performance
TSW18 – The European Sales Summit Royal Garden Hotel Kensington
text pages.indd 2
London September 13th 2018
22/06/2018 15:42
DISRUPTION DRILLS TONY HUGHES explains how agile selling is the key to succeeding in a new disruptive landscape
A
gility in business has become a buzzword in recent years. Increased disruption – driven by technology, stronger competition and cost cutting – is fuelling the need for organisations to become agile in all areas. Against this backdrop, agility in sales may seem like a new, trendy concept. In reality, effective sales professionals have always been agile, not least when it comes to winning complex sales. Why? Fundamentally, because no two customers are alike. Customers’ needs are wide and varied, influenced by their own goals and those of their colleagues in the decision-making unit (DMU) and the organisation at large. And the product or service requirements a customer started out with can change as they progress through the buying cycle. To be persuasive and engaging from customer to customer, to be able to create and articulate value – not just for the person in front of you but for everyone involved in the DMU – while always keeping tabs on shifting ground, requires agility. Here are the key skills you need, and drills to adopt, to stay agile. Active listening Every customer’s perception of what agile looks like can be different. Finding this out is essential if the salesperson is to respond effectively. It’s not something that can be asked. And it’s not something most customers would think about in depth either, so may find hard to explain. The salesperson has to work it out. The first essential skill in sales agility is therefore listening. It means really digesting the words the customer uses and how they choose to communicate their thoughts. Years ago, a not-for-profit organisation had problems with its fundraising team. It talked about having poor performers, average performers and “primadonnas”, using a pejorative term to describe the high performers. It became clear that the charity had no culture
44 WINNING EDGE
44-45 Huthwaite V2.indd 2
of working with commercially successful people, so had difficulty communicating with its own high performers. That one piece of active listening, and the insight it gave, was all it took to find the right solution. Flexible verbal behaviour As well as deeply understanding how the customer is using language, skilled salespeople are equally careful when choosing the words they use. It’s often unconscious. Many effective salespeople can’t tell you what it is that makes them successful or they ascribe their success to something that, on closer inspection, isn’t actually what they do. It’s what we call the perception gap or unconscious competence. Research shows us that perception gaps are much narrower for skilled salespeople, as they are fully aware of the language they use. The good news is you can train people to ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:22
SALES AGILITY | FEATURE
become more aware of their language and narrow that gap themselves. Even better, as people become more self-aware, they can make choices and adapt their verbal behaviour to become more effective. We call it flexible verbal behaviour and it’s the key to success in every verbal business interaction. Questioning skills Salespeople cannot be agile in meeting their customer’s precise needs, concerns and desired outcomes without an in-depth understanding of what these are. Gaining that understanding needs rigour. When it comes to questioning, a seller must develop a systematic, consistent, structured approach. Our own SPIN Selling model is an example of such a methodology. Value and risk are important considerations in the decision to buy, but they are perceptions first and foremost. The customer’s perception is what counts. They have to work it out and know it for themselves, but the seller can help them reach a conclusion by asking insightful questions about the problems they face, the consequences of not solving them, and the benefits of using the seller’s solution. That enables the customer to communicate the value of the product or service to the rest of the DMU in a much more compelling way. There’s a huge difference between “The salesperson told me we’d save…” and “I’ve worked out we’d save…” Knowledge Before a sales professional asks more questions, it’s crucial to know what to ask. Knowing the right background information on the customer will help. Information such as the problems the customer may be experiencing that your product can solve, and particularly where you know you can solve it better than the competition, is useful. So are general trends or industry developments that may be driving the purchase decision. Confidence There is little that impresses potential customers more than the calm, assured demeanour of a genuinely confident salesperson. A confident seller develops trust, provides reassurance and enhances their and their company’s reputation as well as the customer’s experience. Confidence enables the salesperson to explore the customer’s needs and offer ideas in the most persuasive manner. Confidence cannot be learned, but has to be gained, and there is no better way of gaining it than by being fluent in a sales methodology that works. Investing in high quality sales training is usually wise. Understanding the customer’s strategy Customer organisations can be complicated things, with any number of challenges that need addressing and invariably not enough resources. Whatever is closest to the customer’s strategic ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
44-45 Huthwaite V2.indd 3
TONY HUGHES is CEO of Huthwaite International, a leading global provider of sales, negotiation and communication skills development. Visit www. huthwaiteinternational.com
priorities is what matters most. If the client company has a defined and universally accepted business strategy that lies at the heart of every decision it makes – and all good companies do – it’s vital sellers understand it too. They must have the skills and knowledge to uncover and understand their customer’s business strategy. By aligning solutions to strategy, sellers will maximise the chances of their project being allocated the resources to close the deal. Considering the whole customer DMU Current research suggests that, on average, there are at least six people involved in a B2B buying decision – with varying, and possibly conflicting, needs, decision criteria, and enthusiasm about the project and each of the potential suppliers. How does the salesperson manage that? It requires a deep understanding of the role each person has in making the decision (which, incidentally, may have nothing to do with their job title) and a clear strategy to address each one (even if you don’t meet them all in person). Negotiating So, you invest in sales training, develop your team’s skills, strategies and confidence and give them the knowledge they need to do an outstanding job. And they do. They accurately assess the customer’s view of agility, build both value and clear competitive differentiation, present a persuasive case for your solution and effectively manage the complexities of the buying organisation. You’ve ticked all the boxes – the users love your proposal and your company has signed it off. So the deal’s yours, right? Wrong. Now you must face procurement – the professional buyer. It’s time to negotiate. It’s procurement’s job to tell you they like your proposal but they can get the same thing 20% cheaper elsewhere, and what can you do? Of course, what they’ve told you isn’t always true. If they can really get it 20% cheaper, and it really is the same thing, they’d have bought it from someone else. They want to do a deal with you but they want better terms. They claim it’s a buyer’s market and they have all the power, but that’s not true either. Unless it’s an entirely frivolous purchase they have to buy from someone. But that won’t stop them from doing everything they can to get the cost down, even to the point of devaluing your proposition. They are experienced negotiators. Are your sellers equally familiar with the process? If not, they should be. Negotiation skills are the final weapon in the agile salesperson’s armoury. And don’t think you can cut corners by just training the sales managers to negotiate and sending in these big guns at the close. Buyers love that – because the only thing a manager can do that a salesperson can’t is give more concessions. WINNING EDGE 45
22/06/2018 15:22
BOOK REVIEWS
GET READY TO LEAD Books on sales leadership and being bold in selling are reviewed by MARC BEISHON
W
e were struck by the title of the first book on the stocks in this review – Stop Selling & Start Leading, from a trio of American authors. Two of them are academics who specialise in leadership, and have written extensively about this generally and in other fields. In this book, they say: “Leadership is an observable and learnable set of skills and abilities that is accessible to everyone. Research clearly shows that in the highest performing organisations leadership is everyone’s business. Similarly, evidence abounds that the most exemplary sellers engage most frequently in the practices of leadership. Leaders, like extraordinary sellers, are change brokers. They are guides who show people the way from where they are now to where they aspire to be in the future. Leaders make extraordinary things happen.” The authors say they’ve researched this from the sales perspective by looking at buyers – “We identify the five buyer preferences that originally led to our hypothesis that sellers would be more successful if they replaced traditional selling behaviours with the behaviours of exemplary leaders” – and in fact this is based on a survey that adds data to that used to formulate an existing framework, The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership. These five practices form the main chapters of the book, so we’ll go through them in this review, but they are: l Model the way l Inspire a shared vision l Challenge the process l Enable others to act l Encourage the heart.
BUYE R –SE LLE R DISCO NNECT In Stop Selling & Start Leading the authors cite a survey by Hubspot on what customers want to discuss in a first sales call and what sales reps typically cover. There is a disconnect: n Salespeople want to know who is responsible for the purchase, the timeline, the budget, the reasons for buying and the overall goals for the company. But most buyers really don’t want to discuss these at first
46 WINNING EDGE
46-47 book review V2.indd 2
n What buyers want to hear at first are advice on how similar organisations have had success with the product or service, how the product works (a demo) and not least, the pricing. What this means is that you mustn’t withhold information and must be transparent to build trust quickly. It also makes you look capable and confident.
The practices are indeed about behaviours, and they asked buyers questions such as, “How frequently do sellers you choose to do business with exhibit this behaviour?” and “Which leadership behaviours are the most important?”, and report that buyers are significantly more likely to meet with and buy from sellers who exhibit these leadership behaviours. Conversely, when asking sellers what gets results, “persistence” is often mentioned, but this isn’t a word that buyers use in describing their preferences. Before the chapters on the practices, there’s a chapter that highlights “credibility” as the key to leadership and making the sale. In the survey, they also asked, “What behaviours could a seller exhibit that would increase your likelihood of meeting with or buying from him or her?” More than one-third of the responses were related to the credibility of the seller. Credibility is perceived by three factors: trustworthiness, expertise and dynamism, and people who are rated more highly on these characteristics are considered by others to be more credible sources of information, say the authors. In turn, honesty is the number one factor in evaluating trustworthiness, such as keeping your sales promises, followed by say expert product knowledge and simply having energy. But not following through on commitments is a dealbreaker and breaking even a small promise is a big deal when that’s all the buyer has to gauge credibility and trustworthiness, they say. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:25
BOOK REVIEWS
The first of the five practices, “model the way”, is about having a set of values or principles that reflect you and your company. This is where you “clarify values by finding your voice and affirming shared values” and “set the example by aligning actions with shared values”. So no little white lies, or telling tales on the competition – and keep your price integrity, and take responsibility for errors. You get the picture. As the authors say: “If you lack shared ideals or ignore them, buyers will see inconsistencies that cause them to doubt you, and you may also be seen to lack confidence.” The second behaviour is “inspire a shared vision”, which sounds a bit like the first one, but it is about a vision you build with the buyer rather than the inward values you bring as a sales leader. Here, what you need to avoid is a vision of the future that is “fabricated, exaggerated, or farfetched, filled with ‘blue sky’ promises. Buyers react negatively when sellers overpromise and underdeliver.” Instead you need to “imagine the possibilities” and “find a common purpose”. The authors say that while sellers do think this is important, buyers rate it the least important leadership practice – but, generally, being forwardlooking is the quality that most differentiates leaders from individual contributors. The answer to this paradox lies in that word “credibility” – demonstrate it or buyers won’t believe your vision can come true. There’s a lot more on this behaviour, including familiar ideas such as storytelling and making emotional connections. The third behaviour, “challenge the process”, sounds a bit like the Challenger Sale, and indeed as a leader you don’t wait for problems – you need to anticipate them or look for ways to make improvements. The authors do reference the Challenger Sale methodology, but warn not to be too confrontational. While the Challenger Sale qualities are valued, they are not the ones favoured most by buyers, and you must make “purposeful challenging”, and “offer more to back up challenges made”. Also in this behaviour is “experiment and take risks”, but by taking others with you to make risk safe. You turn experiments into learning opportunities by generating small wins rather than betting the house. The fourth behaviour, “enable others to act” is about “buyer enablement” rather than sales enablement, and covers collaboration, because you can’t work alone, but you also want to strengthen others so they have self-determination – but buyers still want relationships with you as equals. Finally, the fifth behavior, “encourage the heart”, is familiar in that it’s about recognising contributions and celebrating values and victories. The book is American and has chatty examples, but also solid references. It is an interesting and accessible meld of leadership and sales concepts. ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
46-47 book review V2.indd 3
SELLING BOLDLY VS FEARFULLY BOLD Proactive Confident Boldness Optimistic Grateful Consistent perseverance Focus on value and relationship Take constant communication action Make it look easy Plan‐driven
Stop Selling & Start Leading by James Kouzes, Barry Posner and Deb Calvert is published by Wiley. It is available on Amazon
Selling Boldly by Alex Goldfayn is published by Wiley. It is available on Amazon
FEARFUL Reactive Fearful Meekness Pessimistic Cynical Quick surrenders Focus on products/services Overplan and underexecute Labouring, and it shows Inquiry driven
SELLING BOLDLY The second book, Selling Boldly, is written by Alex Goldfayn, who practises what he preaches with his own US consultancy. It seems very much in the mould of a hundred other sales motivation books – is there anything new to be said? Goldfayn summarises his approach in two sentences: “The first step is to know how good you are so that you gain confidence, positivity, and boldness. The second step is to communicate with customers and prospects more, because the more we communicate, the more we sell.” But what is the key to this? Overcoming fear – and it’s homing in on fear that sets this book apart as it doesn’t pull any punches. “Fear is the single greatest killer of sales growth, for individuals and companies alike,” says Goldfayn. His book is essentially about demolishing fear and as such is pretty much a psychological approach, but it’s not in the academic league of The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance, which is based on original research. Goldfayn first defines fear, noting we have fear from an early age about rejection, especially. Fear of failure, not being liked, of upsetting the customer – and the consequences – makes us reactive, use email instead of calling, procrastinate, and even turns us into perfectionists. Confronting fear means identifying exactly what you are afraid of and what will happen if it happens. Goldfayn moves onto “positive psychology” and here makes a key distinction. Most sales improvement programmes focus on what’s going wrong – but instead he says you are doing good things, but he wants you do more of it. The rest of the book is about his “selling boldly” system and toolkit, and the key is communicating more with customers and prospects. To do this you need the “bold” rather than “fearful” mindset, and he sets out a planner to help do this, which includes writing down things such as “three recent sales wins I’m proud of ”. There are several other planners too, such as for weekly communications. A key to developing the selling boldly mindset is talking to happy customers. There’s a lot more about the positive actions to take. Goldfayn writes in a simple, engaging way and makes it look fun too. WINNING EDGE 47
22/06/2018 15:25
ISM PROFILE
OUR CORPORATES MAN Winning Edge meets the ISM’s corporate account director, 41 year-old DAVE MILLICHAP What attracted you to a sales career? What would you say are your key skills? After taking a BA degree in social and cultural My skills and experience mainly revolve around studies, I started my sales career working for relationship management. In practice, this means Pearson Education, selling educational resources understanding our partners’ key objectives in order into the schools market. I was attracted by the fact to best support their needs. I like to think my that the products I was selling had a direct impact consultative approach and people skills enable me on the education of young people while also to quickly build strong relationships, which lead to making teachers’ jobs easier. This led me to mutually beneficial outcomes. progress to becoming a consultant for the examination board Edexcel, which further What success have you had? cemented my interest in the learning and One area where we’re taking great strides “In recent months we’ve been development (L&D) field. is the development of our professional sales delighted to work with some certification (PSC) journey, gaining traction How would you describe your main with companies such as Siemens and big names, such as AO, areas of experience? Medicash Healthcare. Geberit, Medicash, Siemens I’ve built over 10 years’ sales and account In terms of corporate partnerships, in and Virgin Media Business” management experience within the recent months we’ve been delighted to sign education and corporate L&D sectors, up – or expand our relationship – with big working for both FTSE 100 companies and small to names, such as AO, Geberit, Rolls-Royce and medium-sized enterprises. Virgin Media Business. Virgin is highly significant, I hold significant project management experience as it has committed to 512 new members, who will within the local authority sector, working for be progressing through our PSC journey. education business partnerships (EBPs), helping It is really encouraging that these companies schools and local enterprises to cooperate together represent a diverse range of industry sectors, which to drive work-related learning strategies within demonstrates the wide appeal of the ISM. I’ve secondary education. worked with them on ISM qualifications, membership, endorsement of their sales training, What brought you to the ISM? and implementation of PSC – which shows there is My main areas of experience – working at the strong demand for the benefits we offer. sharp end of selling and within the L&D sector – Other positive steps for the ISM include our first gave me a strong conviction that sales should be L&D Leaders’ Forum, our new regional groups, recognised as a true profession. It is my passion that putting together the highest profile set of BESMA sales should be regarded as a career path of choice, judges to date, driving our apprenticeship agenda, and be supported by high levels of ongoing training and developing the new ISM webinar platform. and development, and professional recognition. I can’t claim the credit for all of it... We have a great ISM team, with loads of energy and ideas. What are your goals as the ISM’s corporate account director? What are your ambitions for the ISM? My role contributes to several key ISM objectives. To get to 10,000 members by the end of 2020 and Top of my list of priorities is growing the ISM by gain chartered status; to expand our global reach introducing new corporate partners, as well as by launching the ISM’s new Stress in Sales series; building on our exisiting relationships with leading to confirm BESMA as the most robust sales awards brands such as Aggregate Industries and Virgin in the industry; to provide new, innovative events; to Media Business. continue to develop our LMS with world-leading Another important area for me is to develop the content; to work more with schools, colleges and ISM’s education agenda by maintaining and universities to promote sales careers; to develop our growing partnerships with leading training mentoring programme; and to see Winning Edge providers and ISM qualification centres. recognised as the best magazine in the industry... I’m also heavily involved in building BESMA’s Such vision will see the ISM continue to grow in commercial success through sponsorship sales. line with the needs of our members and industry. 48 WINNING EDGE
48 ISM profile V2.indd 2
ISMPROFESSIONAL.COM
22/06/2018 15:28
For Sales Directors, Managers & CEOs
NATIONAL SALES CONFERENCE 2018 E D U C AT E • M O T I VAT E • I N N O VAT E
How to Build a Champion Sales Team Sir Clive Woodward NSC will offer an impressive agenda of breakout sessions and workshops all aimed to help improve your leadership skills & sales team’s results. The conference will culminate in Sir Clive’s keynote on how to build champion sales teams.
Double ISM Saver Early Bird Deadline
Standard
romo *Use p e d o c C18’ ‘ISMNS
ISM*
179
28 Sept
£395
£316
Saving £
Full Rate
£495
£396
Saving £
th
99
www.NSConference.co.uk Showcase your business - Only 10 exhibition stands remaining
Delegates Represented
29 th NOVEMBER - RICOH ARENA text pages.indd 3
22/06/2018 15:43
For Sales Teams, Executives & Account Managers
NATIONAL SALES ACADEMY 2018 G R O W • A P P LY • S U C C E E D
AGENDA 9am
Registration & Networking Breakfast
10am
“How to Become a Sales Rockstar!”
11am
“Social Selling in a Digital Age”
12pm
“Stand-Out Selling: Who to Call, When to Call & What to Say?”
12.30pm
“How Storytelling Sells More Products?”
1pm
Lunch
2pm
“Reframing ‘Selling’ to ‘Buying’ in the Customer Experience”
3pm
Tea/Coffee Break
3.30pm
“The DNA of a Sales Champion”
Sample companies in attendance
TE KEYNO
The DNA of a Sales Champion Sir Clive Woodward
The agenda is designed to transform and develop your sales force, providing a mix of motivational and educational content from world class speakers.
Send Your Sales Team!
Book 5 Tickets and Receive the 6th FOC!
www.NSAcademy.org.uk
Double ISM Saver Early Bird Deadline
Standard
romo *Use p code LES18’ ‘ISMSA
ISM*
159
28 Sept
£295
£236
Saving £
Full Rate
£395
£316
Saving £
th
79
28 th NOVEMBER - RICOH ARENA text pages.indd 4
22/06/2018 15:43
