Problem Solving Sellers: 3 - 7 Types

Sellers needing to differentiate beyond the "price and performance" sellers frequently employ a "problem solver" approach- helping identify solutions to problems during the Buyer's Searching Stage [Stage 2] and then working the project through to installation, [Implementing Stage: 7]. While the selling cycle is longer, these "responsive suppliers" are regarded as useful resources by the customers. This is what is considered "value-added" in today's marketplace.

This however, is not adequate for the new "global competition" marketplace. Gaining, addressing and maintaining customers requires sellers enter the customer's buying process earlier before the "problem-solving sellers" [Stage 3 through 7] gets involved.

Price & Performance Sellers: 4-5-6 Types

Sellers using a "price and performance" approach, search for prospects which they have identified may have needs for their products and services. Their selling approach focuses on "presenting, handling objections, and closing- stages 4-5-6 of the Buying Process. This seller type engages when the buyer provides the specifications, stage 4, and disengages when the deal is closed, stage 6, keeping the selling cycle short.

The "4-5-6" seller brings value through product and service features, price discounts and other concessions. This approach may work if the seller has the "hot product at the lowest prices," but fewcompanies can sustain that position amid competition and rapid change. Think American Automotive companies.

Shifting Trends

For sellers to provide true value, they need to focus on working with customers during all stages. As the global economy continues to develop the buyer is increasingly challenged:

1. Buyers face the challenge of obtaining a clear understanding of the root causes of their problems and barriers.
2. Buyers find it increasingly challenged by the shear mass of data to make decisions, reducing decisions on products and services to commodities.

Observations can be concluded that across a range of industries the sellers begin and end their selling processes at different stages of the customer's buying process. Often the "added-value" that sellers think is not all that valuable to today's buyer. The need to determine what stage the buyer is in becomes as critical as the need to define and focus your sales efforts.

First Four Count

Customer experience the greatest challenges during the first four stages of the buying process, if you are to be considered "valued-added," you must, as a seller, add the greatest value for the customers in those stages.

The Buying Process: Tracking Phase

The buyer assess the performance results of the solutions, products and services.

The Buying Process: Implementing Phase

The buyer brings the solution into operation.

The Buying Process: Committing Phase

The buyer makes a contractual commitment to purchase a product or service solution from the selected supplier.

The Buying Process: Selecting Phase

The buyer reduces supplier options down to two or three contenders and, finally, down to the preferred supplier.

The Buying Process: Evaluating Phase

The buyer evaluates potential solutions. Typically, both solutions and suppliers are compared in terms of how they meet established evaluation criteria.

The Buying Process: Searching Phase

The buyer searches for potential solutions to the problems and needs recognized during the previous stage.

The Buying Process: Recognizing Phase

The buyer recognize problems that must be solved or prevented, or needs that must be met, in order to achieve the goals that the buyers has.

The Buying Process: Planning Phase

The buyers' mission is clarified, goals and objectives are established and strategy is formulated. Planning typically occurs at the organizational, departmental, project or user levels of a company.

The Buying Process

The customer buying process and the complementary selling process provides the needed framework for a diagnostic and prescriptive tool of analysis to construct the marketing and sales plan.

1. Planning
2. Recognizing
3. Searching
4. Evaluating
5. Selecting
6. Committing
7. Implementing
8. Tracking

Marketplace Realities

The marketplace is dramatically different then ever before, the rapidly changing business environment [C3] on those who purchase products and services have severe implementations for selling organizations [S3] in terms of both problems created and opportunities presented [R3].

A successful and sustainable response is the creation of a marketing and sales plan that complements core competencies, skills, knowledge, strategies, of the sales, sales support, and service professionals [S3] in order to add value during the selling process.

Sales Axiom 115

Profit = Selling Price - Cost

The relationship between buying and selling has precisely define roles, responsibilities, and environments

The Roles [S3]; refers to the sales, sales support, and service professionals who comprise business-to-business selling organizations. They are the primary interface for their companies.

The Responsibilities [R3]; refers to the performance responsibilities of the S3 groups- revenue, customer relationships, and results achieved through the use of their companies' products and services.

The Environments [C3]; refers to the complex, highly competitive, and rapidly changing business environment within which the S3 group must operate.

The power to see beyond the obvious- into the customer's buying process

To add value from the customer's perspective, salespeople must be involved in the customer's buying process at stages where they are seldom involved. To become involved, they need to challenge traditional selling protocols, and let the customer's goals, objectives, and strategies drive their selling process.

Know you who are selling & how to sell them: The Ratifier

One or more people, usually higher up the client's organization outside the official buying cycle, whose role is to bless the recommendation of the economic buyer. The ratifier's focus is on potential organizational conflicts. To sell, you must answer "Will this project and these proposers meet my broader 'political' and/or personal objectives?"

Know who you are selling & how to sell them: The Coach

One or more people within the potential client's organization whose role is to act as a guide for this sale opportunity. Coaches provide and interpret information about the situation, other buyers, and how each wins. Their focus is on the success of this sale. To sell, you must answer "How can we pull this off?"

Know who you are selling & how to sell them: The Technical Buyer

One or more people whose role is to screen out bidders. Technical buyers judge the sale by quantifiable, measurable criteria, act as gatekeepers, and make recommendations. They cannot say "Yes" but they most certainly say "No." Their focus is on your service or product per se. To sell, you must answer "Does the proposed approach and qualifications meet their specifications?"

A Must Read

To understand how corporations must change, to escape the trap in which they find themselves. Read, learn and execute, "The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers," by C.K. Prahalad & Venkat Ramaswamy. on Harvard Business School Press. These University of Michigan professors got it right.

Know who you are selling & how to sell them: The User Buyer

One or more people whose role is to judge the impact of product or service on operational performance. User buyers will use or supervise the use and will have to live with the performance results of your sale. The user buyer's focus is on the adequacy and practically of the proposal and the effects on the potentially affected organizational unit. To sell, you must answer: "How will the sale affect their job and those they manage?"

Know who you are selling & how to sell them: The Economic Buyer

A single person whose role is to give final approval to buy. This person has direct access to monies, controls the release of the monies, and has discretionary use of them. The economic buyer's focus is on the bottom line and on the overall impact on the organization. To sell, you must answer: "What will be the overall performance improvement and return on this investment."

Sales Axiom 114

Sales has only two elements; strategy and tactics.

Creating Value: A Systematic Approach

A Systematic Approach is the means for achieving superior customer value. All methods, procedures, equipment, tools, facilities, work processes, distribution systems, organizational and sales structures, and information systems must work toward the ultimate purpose of facilitating the mission.

The Only Business Mission Statement Needed

To create a repeatable sequence of value involving our customers that forms a complete service product means to manage their collective experiences.

Effective Sales Planning

Salesmanagers are continuously looking for opportunities to improve the quality of their sales plans and their sales planning process. In our vision these future improvements in the supply chain should focus on the integration of planning activities in order to make them as deman-driven as possible. Starting points to establish an effective process are:

1. The sales plan must be a combination of top-down market planning and bottom-up account planning.
2. The sales plan must continuously reflect the latest insights into market and customer demand.
3. The sales plan must be evaluated versus the future availability of products.
4. The sales plan must be evaluated versus the financial and marketing targets of the sales organization.
5. The sales plan musdevelopedloped deployed directly to the sales staff responsible for the realization of sales within customers' channels.

Sales Management

Sales planning is the key planning process in a sales organization as it focuses on handling the two basic conflicting business objectives:

1. To achieve a maximum customer service level; the ability to deliver the product that a customer is asking for at the right moment they asking.
2. To achieve a high internal efficiency level; the sales plans are the starting points for controlling the entire chain.

Both these objectives are of vital importance for profitability in the current business environment characterized by volatile demand, decreased customer loyalty, shorter product and service cycles and price erosion.

Effective Sales Presentation

For an effective and successful sales presentation, the salesperson must first have a dynamic and professional image. This achieved, then employ the "5 Ps" formula for of sales presentation:

1. Probe: know your prospect, product, service and competition.
2. Planning: structuring information through points in the selling process.
3. Practice: practice techniques for effective delivery and closing.
4. Presenting: adaptive your message to each prospect within the organization.
5. Process: review presentation to overcome anxiety.

Motivate Customers

Selling today is more consultative in nature, hence, it demands a positive mental attitude and strong presentation skills requiring communication of concise solutions to needs.

Today's salesperson need learn how to:

1. Structure needs-based solutions to customer problems.
2. Structure how to motivate the customer with enthusiasm and confidence.

Sales Axiom 113

Hire the personality and train the skills.

Fundamental Techniques: Establishing Commitment

The salesperson is successful when:
• The buyer knows that the sale is complete.
• The relationship remains active until the next sale.

Fundamental Techniques: Objections

The successful salesperson must develop the means to:
• Handle objections presented as a deterrent to the sale.
• Recognize the path through these objections.

Fundamental Techniques: Buying Signals

The salesperson must successfully determine:
• Both positive and negative signals.
• A positive verifiable signal to utilize a trail close.

Fundamental Techniques: Trial Closes

The successful salesperson must recognize:
• The difference between closes and trail closes.
• When and how to use a trail close.

Customer Service & The Salesperson

• Contain your company's mistakes and prevent future ones.
• Identify and watch for early warning signals of degregation of services.
• Know that great service exists only when the customer says it is great.
• Create realistic expectations for your customers and deliver more.
• When there is a problem, fix the problem not the blame.
• Continually follow up to antipate needs and distinguish yourself from the competition.

The Economy of Scope

The deeper a relationship you have with any single customer- the more information about them you have in your possession, hence, the less likely it is that our competition will be able to wrestle that particular customer away. This is the economy of scope.

Sales Axiom 112

Calculate our success one customer at a time.

Fundamental Techniques: Presenting

A successful presentation is complete when:
• The buyer is convinced in a logical, systematic manner that the product or service will add value for them.

Fundamental Techniques: Rapport

The salesperson will be successful if they build:
• Identify the buyer's motive for buying.
• Conduct a needs analysis.
• Mentally organize the presentation.

Fundamental Techniques: Prospecting

A successful salesperson must master the following:
• Locate potential clients.
• Set pre-qualification standards.
• Utilize the top potential methodology for prospecting.
• Use telephone techniques to get appointments.
• Handle objections

Fundamental Techniques: Basics

A salesperson needs to discover the following to be successful:
• Identify prospects and create a detailed company profile.
• Establish a rapport with your customers.
• Position your product or service as a needs satisfiers.
• Handle objectives smoothly and keep the sale moving.
• Work the telephone persuasively.
• Save time through effective time management.
• Close more sales, more efficiently.
• Build relationships that will lead to future sales.

The First Sales Call

The first objective in selling is not to sell the product, nor to sell yourself or even to try to set an appointment. The first objective is to eliminate the prospect's fear of being threatened by change, to disengage their protective devices, so the prospect will be receptive to you, an appointment, to your suggestions, the product or service and the sale.

Building Credibility in Sales

• Credibility is the faculty to command confidence or inspire trust.
• The most common criticism made by customers is lack of offering knowledge by the salesperson.
• The more the salesperson understands the customer's business, the more credible they become.
• When the salesperson causes the customer additional time and cost, cedibility suffers.
• The customer looks to the salesperson as a source of information.
• The customer does not distinguish between sales and customer service.

Sales Territory Management

Customer Zoning
• Drive the territory; know where the potential customers are grouped.
• Split the territory into zones of customer densities.
• Higher the business potential, the smaller the zone.
• Constantly re-evaluate the zones.

Saturating Calling
• Do not go back to the office between appointments.
• Drive around the zone between appointments.
• Conduct canvas calls between pre-planned appointment.

Call Preparation
• Sell during prime time, prepare during non-prime time.
• Keep supplies handy and stocked.
• Plan ahead each day.
• Know the product and services offered by the competition.

Sales Axiom 111

Customers are not on off switches rather they are volume knobs.

How to Evaluate a Salesperson?

The following is the only meaningful metric to evaluate a salesperson:
• Number of sales calls made per week, month, quarter & fiscal year.
• Number of sales calls on present clients.
• Number of sales calls on new customers.
• Number of demonstrations and quotes.
• Number of "customer-service" calls.
• Number of new accounts established.
• Number of hours worked; road vs. office.
• Number of sales dollars sold per call.

The Four Component's of Any Sale

1. Performance
2. Service
3. Quality
4. Availability

Regardless of what markterplace your business operates, every competitor has or can offer what you have, except- performance. This is the only component that can distinguish your product or service in the marketplace.

Sell to Get a Higher Price

1. Create benefits rather than compare prices.
2. Protect a price buyer's ego with non-price extras or services.
3. Sell visions and ideas, not just products or services.
4. Create visual images of the prospects enjoying the product or using the service.
5. Reduce a price difference to the lowest limit possible.
6. Train yourself to sell value- not price. Value is the combination of price, quality and service.

Objectionable Selling Practices

Customers today are more educated than they are ever been before. That means they expect more from salespeople. Customers continue to be upset as ever over poor quality, bad service and lack of accountability. A Salesperson can change that perception or be the source.

Lack of Preparation
Customers do not like salespeople who call them on the phone or come by without a specific purpose in mind.

Lack of Information
Customers often depend on salespeople as a source as a source of information on a variety of subjects. Weak salespeople lack specific information about their own services and general information about the customer's business.

Aggressiveness
Customers often complained about "pushy" salespeople, who argue and try to convinve customers to spend more than is necessary. Successful salespeople are not interested in their commissions.

Undependability
For customers to conduct business, salespeople must be accessible. Phone calls good or bad need to be made.

Poor-Follow Through
Customers often request information and answers multiple times before they receive it. Customers are let down by the empty promises of poor salespeople.

Presumptuousness
Many customers are offended when salespeople ask for their competitor's quotes or put down the competition.

"Walk-Ins"
Customers' complain that salespeople call on them without appointments, but are greatly annoyed when interrupted by poor selling skills.

"Grabbers"
If salespeople is talking, that means they cannot be listening. Poor salespeople go on and on, thinking they are being friendly- in reality they are viewed by customers as compulsive talkers as boring-time wasters.

Problem Avoiders
Some salespeople would rather do anything than face a customer who is in a crisis. But most customers are more concerned about trying to find solutions to problems than trying to place blame on the salesperson.

Lack of Personal Respect
Customers resent salespeople who go to other people in the company without their knowledge.

Sales Axiom 110

Focus on the goal not the competition

Relationship Selling

The goal of many unsuccessful salespeople is to sell their product- to absorb their products or service's features, functions, and benefits, then spit them back to the customer- and wait for them to purchase. Successful salespeople have a different mind-set. They sell themselves to customers, rather than sell products or services. They sell stepping-stones to customer's success. Regardless of what product or service they sell, their only purpose in selling is to help customers achieve their goals. If, in helping them achieve their goals, these salespeople also make money, so much the better. A successful salesperson becomes the valued service to the customer, not the product or service they are selling.

Knowledge
Salespeople are, today, expected to understand how a total business operates, not just the piece of it they are trying to sell. Customers want salespeople with a broad range of knowledge. The best salespeople must be knowledgeable in a variety of areas. They must know their own product, company and industry, but also have detailed knowledge of their customer's company and industry. Further, they also must know the competition, both their strengths and weaknesses. The more knowledge a salesperson possess, the easier it is to suggest soutions to the customer's problems. This establishes the salesperson as an added value in the mind of the customer. Poistioning as a seller of solutions rather than a seller of products or services, as such customer then views the salesperson as a consultant to their company not has an outsider looking to sell something.

Empathy
Customer want salespeople who are sincerely interested in them and their business. They do not want to feel like just another stop on the route. They want to know that the salesperson understands and appreciates their unique goals and challenges. Sales empathy means helping customers find ways to fulfill their needs, to solve those problems, and to achieve and exceed their goals.

Achieving empathy requires proficiency in listening, the salesperson needs to listen not only to learn about the customer's needs but to respond correcty to them as solutions. Creating this rapport with the customer is the first step in achieving customer empathy.

Organization
Customers are busy. They do not have time to waste with salesperson who are not prepared with the proper materials and information. Part of a salesperson's organization knows how to evaluate the customer's style. Knowing what customers like to spend time prior to conducting further business is an import balancing act that requires pre-call planning.

Promptness
Customers want salespeople to return calls as quickly as possible, weather they are asking for pricing information or calling to complain about poor service. For the customer, the measure of successful salesperson comes after the sale. Customers need to know that questions that they have will be answered promptly and problems will be attended to.

Salespeople should not be reluctant to return customers' calls because they are afraid to face problems. A true salesperson recognizes problems represent the opportunity to gain further trust of the customer.

Follow-through
Customers want salespeople to keep their promises. They do not want to be badgered, but they want to know they would not be forgotten after the sale has gone through. Anyone, even average salespeople, can make a one-time sale. It is the follow-through that keeps the customer coming back for more.

Solutions
Customers want salespeople to realize they are not just selling products or services- they are selling solutions to problems. Customers appreciate salespeople who are creative and innovative, who can sell "outside the box." Many salespeople sell as if customers are just buying on price alone. If this were true the lowest price in the marketplace with the nicest brochures , then would determine all buying decisions. This is only duplicated in usinesses where their product or services have been reduced to commodities. In the absence of this marketplace condition, one of the most valuable assets a salesperson has is the ability to create partnerships with their customers.

Partnering with customers means kepping the customers' overall businesss goals in mind and helping them find new resouces whenever necessary. This requires the salesperson to have, such intimate knowledge of their product or services that they can present every conceivable application and adaptation possible. This means a salesperson must use imagination in combination with knowledge and experience to come up with solutions to improve the customers' bottom line. When this occurs the salesperson has provided added value beyond their product and services- they have created a value for the customer through partnership.

To create value for customers, to out-deliver, out-perform and exceed customers' expectations, a salesperson needs to provide services within the following areas.:
1. offer solutions to help the customers drive profits.
2. Illustrate how provided services allow customers to expand revenues.
3. Provide solutions enabling customer to maintain their market-share.

Punctuality
Customers need to fell that their time is important. Salespeople need to convey respect and common courtesy not only to the customers but also their own organization and the competition.

Energy
Energy, ethusiasm and a positive attitude forge long-lasting customer relationship. Energy becomes a key critical attribute of all successful salesperson as it becomes the basis for the pro-active personalities. These personalities possess the positive attitude and the belief in them and their abilties to drive through rejection and setbacks to sales success.

Honesty
There is no need ever for dishonesty. The customer must in all cases know of any potential problems. Customers do repeat sales with salespeople and businesses that set expectations correctly. Customers do not do repeat business with liars.

Traditional vs. Relationship Selling Approaches

Selling Approaches:
• The most common vs. Least practiced
• Selling is a contest vs. Selling is a service
• Selling is persuading vs. Selling is helping
• Customers must be sold vs. Customers love to buy
• Buyers are liars vs. Salespeople are trusted advisors
• The close is primary vs. The follow-through is primary
• Salespeople are manipulators vs. Salespeople consult
• Selling is loney vs. Selling is fun

Traditional vs. Relationship Selling Techniques

Training Techniques:
• Canned vs. Flexible approach
• One-sided vs. Two-sided
• Sales pitch vs. Sales dialogue
• Adversarial vs. Partnering
• Overcoming vs. Resolving objections
• Avoiding vs. Welcoming phone calls
• Persuader vs. Helper
• Con-artist vs. Pro-fessional

What is wrong with traditional sales training?

The traditional sales training taught an aggressive and competitive style of selling in which somebody wins and somebody loses. Traditional salespeople offer simple canned routines that leave the prospect felling manipulated from the beginning. The approach rigidly adheres to the concept of prospects receiving the same rote sales pitch. The customers are lured into business to discover an uncaring post-sale salesperson. The evolution of selling has been slow, because salespeople receive no, inadequate, or more often wrong training.

In many sales organizations no sales training is offered. New salespeople are acquainted with the product or service, shown a client list and told go fetch. They are not given any sales training or taught to develop proficiencies. Yet the business expects the salesperson to become a successful producer. Still in others new salespeople are given some training, but not necessarily the right or even complete.

To sell successfully, a salesperson needs proficiencies in three areas:
1. Technical Knowledge
2. Interpersonal Skills
3. Self-Management

The vitally important product/service- related knowledge is the base requirement. Knowing how to apply that knowledge to the pursuit of potential customers requires interpersonal proficiencies. The ability to manage well enough to get the job done when it is needs to be done, as it needs to be done, is the critical self-management proficiency.

Of the three proficiencies, most business continue to concentrate efforts on the technical knowledge married with some type of traditional selling technique. The assumption is that the more a salesperson knows about a product or service and delivers it in some canned "sales-speak," more they are able to sell. But there is a dangerous fallacy in this notion. If all a salesperson knows is the technical aspect of their offering, delivered in a pre-processed manner, they become lectures to prospects rather, not to be confused with, salespeople making sales.

Unfortunately, far too many businesses continue investment in not only the wrong type of salesperson, but also in unsuitable training. Salespeople are continually not taught the appropriate interpersonal and salesmanagement proficiencies, but they are taught skills and attitudes that are completely inappropriate traditional selling techniques.

The world of sales is not what it use to be, Customers are more educated, sophisticated and have access to information; they demand not only quality services, but beyond-the-call-of duty customer care and ongoing relationships as well. Today's sales professionals must demonstrate honestly and integrity, and they must reach a high level of competency in building rapport and understanding needs. They must develop a relationship with the customer.

Buying Signals

• A positive statement about product or service
• Direct questions of use, price, delivery of services
• Asks for references
• Asks for incentives
• A change in voice to one of a positive tone
• Expression change to a relaxed form

Prospecting Methods

• Advertising
• Centers of Influence
• Chain of Levels
• Cold Canvassing
• Contests
• Directors & Mailings
• Group Plans
• Information Exchange
• Internal Records
• Observation
• Service Personnel
• Spotters
• Trade Shows

Tele-Cold Canvassing

• A establish criteria for qualifying the prospects
• Establish call objectives
• Prepare a opening statement
• Prepare sales message
• Prepare various closes
• Prepare a closing statement
• Request appointment schedule

Defining a Salesperson

Organizational Relationships:
• Reports to: Regional Managers
• Supervises: None

Primary Responsibilities:
Responsible for providing sales coverage and developing best possible market penetration for all products or services, to present to prospective customers in their assigned territory in accordance with the company's policies and programs.

Duties: Company
• To reflect in personal demeanor and professional integrity the true image of the company to customers and prospects.
• To maintain and increase sales volume with established accounts and to aggressively seek new customers by formulating and following planned sales strategies and company marketing programs to ensure optimum profitable sales penetration in the territory assigned.
• To be sensitive to the current individual needs of customers and prospects, and to help them attain their goals through proper utilization of the company's products and services.
• To seek new users and applications for company products and services with present and prospective customers.
• To assist present and prospective customers in adapting company products to their own requirements and specifications.
• To aggressively carry out marketing programs as directed.
• To authorize guarantess in accordance with company policies.
• To adjust customer complaints in accordance with company's policy, and to advise management promplty of any situations beyond their scope of authority.
• To be alert to competitive products, services, and marketing practices, and to keep management informed concerning them.
• To actively participate in the development of sales forecasts.
• To maintain up-to-date customer and territory records in accordance with regional manager's instruction.
• To prepare and submitt call and expense reports as required.
• To submit special reports regarding the operation of the territory, acceptance or rejection of productsor services, a competitive conditions beneficial to other salespeople and company's operations.
• To recommend the addition of new products and services and modifications or deletion of present products and services to the line aas appropriate.
• To attend and participate in sales meetings, training programs, conventions, and trade shows as directed.
• To maintain an awareness of likely candidates for the sales force and to call any such to the attention of the regional manager.
• To actively participate in territory and self-development programs.
• To cooperate with all personnel in region, department, division, and other divisions in the execution of programs and policies in order to acheive overall company objectives.
• To assume the obligations of good citizenship and to participate in worthwhile community activitives as a public relations asset to the company.

Duties: Customers
• Analyze customer's needs and formulates solutions by utilizing all resources made available by the company.
• Offer service and looks for ways to help the customer do a better job.
• Provide information to customers on new and current products, back orders, general order status, current pricing structure, company policy changes, and anticipates their needs.
• Achieves prompt, mutually satisfactory solutions to customer's complaints.
• Keep promises and appointments. Exercises courtesy at all times.

Principal Working Relationships:
• Works with the local managers in rpoviding service to customer accounts.
• Cooperates with the company as directed by regional management.

Sales Axiom 109

Sales is a helping profession

Selecting a Salesperson

Many types of test can be used to screen and select candidates, aptitude, intelligence, knowledge, proficiency, personality and honesty. Although these test have often proven to useful, they are not without problems.

Consider the following approach as a quick effective manner in which to judge current or future salespersons:

Given:
Skill + Knowledge = Competence x [Attitude] = Performance %

Use the following scale:
9 = Exceptional
8 = Superior
7 = Successful
6 = Plus
5 = Average
4 = Good
3 = Little
2 = Low
1 = None

Candidate A:
Consider a far too typical average salesperson:
Skill [5] + Knowledge [5] = Competence [10] x Attitude [5] = Performance 50%

Candidate B:
Consider an average salesperson with a great attitude:
Skill [5] + Knowledge [5] = Competence [10] x Attitude [7] = Performance 70%
An increase in attitude yields a better salesperson.

Candidate C:
Consider a successful salesperson with little knowledge of your business:
Skill [7] + Knowledge [3] = Competence [10] x Atiitude [8] = Performance 80%

Who would you hire? All candidates are competent. Who would your Sales Manager hire? Did they detect the slight differences in attitude? Who should be hired? Who would be cheaper to hire? Who will become a sales leader? What can be taught? Skill? Knowledge? Attitude?

How a salesperson is selected, will determine how quickly prospects are found, presented, convinced, quoted and converted to customers. Determining how ell the business will prosper, grow and succeed over time.

Vital Factors in Sales Performance

In addition to the basic selling skills, knowledge and attitude are vital factors in successful sales performance. They differ critically in the following manner:

• Knowledge is learned from many sources- instructors, association with products, services, customer, and marketplace. The more a salesperson knows, the better they will function in the sales responsibility.

• Attitudes are developed. They are encouraged, complimented, criticized, copied, counseled, acquired. This is not a matter of training, but of motivation.

A well-trained individaul who possesses knowledge and performs skillfully is generally the individual salesperson with the best attitude, hence the most personally and professionally successful. These proto-typical salespersons are the individuals a business needs to attract for a winning sales force.