These articles by The Ruby Group appeared in Akron's SBN Magazine.
Hire the Best
by The Ruby Group
Four ways to change your traditional interview process.
You've always been great at sales. Then one day you became the manager or the owner--and that's when the nightmare began.
That was when you discovered the manager's reality: The sales manager's position is one of the most difficult in the company to fill as you're caught between playing nursemaid to your people and bringing in the numbers.
Here are some of the problems managers and owners face every day as they try to improve their businesses.
1. Don't blue-sky the job. For years, you've boasted about your company to countless jobseekers, hoping to attract the best. You want the best, but when do you find out if you're going to get the best?
During the interview would be nice; however, most owners and managers usually spend more time trying to convince the applicant to work for them than really finding out if that person can sell. Here's management advice that flies in the face of traditional sales hiring: Not only should you not blue-sky the job, you should run a negative interview.
Let applicants know how tough it's going to be. Ask how they plan to start working the territory because only those who talk about making cold calls will actually make them. Ask three more tough questions after every answer.
By putting the pressure on sales candidates in the interview process, you can determine if they roll over or if they assert themselves. Based on what you see and hear, ask yourself, "Is this the person I want in front of my prospects and customers?"
2. Only decision-makers can get other people to make decisions. While you'll continue to make hires from your gut, there are some things you can do to increase your odds of making a successful hire. Open your interview with, "At the end of the interview, if I were to offer you this position--and I'm not saying I am, but if I were--I'm going to ask you tell me yes or no. So be sure to get all your questions answered."
Any applicant who won't give you a decision isn't worth hiring. After all, isn't that what you want your salespeople to do-get customers to make decisions? If sales applicants can't make decisions under fire, how are they going to get a customer to make a decision?
3. Unlearn your present interviewing system. Throw away the hiring profile assessment you are using and find one that measures sales skills, adversity, toughness, and, most important, whether the applicant will sell for you in your industry.
Second, remember this applicant was someone else's salesperson. Salespeople who "turn over" get good at giving answers you like to hear. It takes three or more questions to learn the truth.
You want strong salespeople? Become a stronger interviewer and unlearn what you did yesterday.
4. Manage "at leasters" out of the business. Existing salespeople are your biggest challenge. Change the sales culture that you put in place--people who don't produce at the least acceptable level must be fired--and remember, the degree of difficulty in firing salespeople increases geometrically the longer they work for you.
This article appeared in the March 2001 issue of Akron's SBN Magazine.
Working It
by The Ruby Group
Ten tips to get the most out of a trade show.
Trade shows are to salespeople what Christmas is to retailers. They offer a brief period when you have the potential to really overfill your leads pipeline.
To make the most out of a trade show, follow these ten steps.
1. Obtain a list of attendees at least two weeks before the show. Plan to meet with targeted prospects at the booth, in your hospitality suite or over breakfast or dinner. Confirm meetings beforehand.
2. Use a team approach. Take advantage of your peers - meet often to debrief prospects, strategies and new ways to attract people into your booth.
3. Arrive a day early and stay a day (or two or three) late. Arriving early ensures you are rested and organized on the first day of the show. Staying later gives you a chance to see hot prospects who might otherwise deteriorate and suffer the dreaded disease "show fever," an affliction that affects trade show attendees approximately 12 to 48 hours after the show ends.
4. Consider conducting a group meeting for prospects who show interest at your booth. Invite them to see you in your hospitality suite either that evening or the next for a formal discussion/presentation of your service.
5. Draw people into the booth. People do business with people, which means you need to retune your bonding skills for these brief encounters. Are you chasing people away by lingering in front of the booth, like a vulture awaiting its prey?
6. Sift the prospects from the suspects. You don't have to tell your story to everyone. . . and it's OK to ask questions to determine who is qualified to hear your story.
7. Don't serve as an educator to everyone. Ask questions to determine who gets your time and energy. At the same time, look for a decision, even if it's a no, from the prospects you talk to at the booth. Sometimes it's worse to have too many leads after a show than too few.
8. Know that the pace of trade show selling is more accelerated than the standard sales call. While you are selling one prospect, ten more could pass you by. Get the proper training to juggle prospects simultaneously. Learn how to get prospects to tell you what they want in a hurry.
9. You must want to work a show, not view it as a duty you've been called on to perform. Without the right internal motivation, no one could possibly endure the grueling pace a busy trade show demands. Assign it to someone else if you aren't up to the task.
10. Know ahead of time what your plan is for post-show behavior. How will you combat show fever?
This article appeared in the June 2001 issue of Akron's SBN Magazine.
Selling with Integrity
by The Ruby Group
Failing to effectively generate referrals from clients and other professionals is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.
The biggest resource any company has is its client base.
You may be uncomfortable asking your clients for referrals because you think it jeopardizes the integrity of your company. On the other hand, you may be able to approach professionals such as accountants, attorneys and bankers and ask for prospects but find that very little materializes.
Here's how you can overcome your objections to asking clients for referrals and sharpen your dialogue with other professionals so you benefit from those conversations.
When you approach professionals for leads, you're probably asking for referrals as an afterthought. You think you're doing the right thing because you've gone to the chamber meetings, the lunches, etc., but nothing materializes.
it's possible you're not approaching the meeting correctly. Here's a dialogue that can work.
You: If you're like other attorneys, you're probably looking for ways to expand your business. As you can imagine, we're looking to expand our business as well. One of the reasons I thought it might make sense for us to get together and have lunch is to talk about ways we might be able to help each other. Is that something you'd be interested in?
Attorney: Sure.
You: My experience has been that either one of two things will happen. Either we'll decide that we have a fit or that we don't have a fit. Any time during lunch, you can stop and say, "Sam, I don't think we can help each other. Why don't we just enjoy lunch?"
For us to work together, it has to be a win-win situation. So it might make sense for me to tell you the types of people I'm looking for and what you might be able to do for me. Then you can tell me about the types of people you do business with and what I might be able to do for you. Then we can decide whether we can help each other. Does that make sense?
Attorney: Yes.
You: If we decide to do that, then we'll discuss the ground rules on how we're gong to go about it and how the mechanics might work.
Mission Accomplished
The other mistake most frequently made by firms I provide training for is they don't ask clients for referrals and introductions.
The most common reason is they have a professional image to uphold. They ask how they can professionally consult a client about his business if he's looking for business himself.
"It diminishes my image," they say. "I have to look strong, like I don't need any help to attract new business."
You must overcome that mindset. Assume it isn't an obstacle. Assume you could go to your clients and get them to introduce you to people who might have an interest in your service. What is the likelihood these individuals will become new clients?
Probably much higher than if you'd met them in a random setting. First, you've already established a level of credibility, and that leads to a much higher new client conversion rate.
you'll find clients like to be associated with successful people. Nobody wants to have an unsuccessful accountant. Nobody wants to go to the doctor and be the only one in the waiting room. People want to work with successful people, so if they can help you, they will. It confirms their decision to work with you in the first place.
You need to become comfortable approaching clients and give them a reason to help you.
Welcome to the world of stress-free professional selling. Any business professional needs to know how to sell in order to grow his or her business.
And you can grow your client base in a manner which is congruent with how you view your profession - with integrity.
This article appeared in the October 2001 issue of Akron's SBN Magazine.