All Entries Tagged With: "sales force"

Sales Recruiting

How do you fill the crucial sales talent gap?

Sales recruiting should be a well-documented process for your organization. Potential salespeople must meet specific criteria, and there should be a detailed list of questions asked, so you can evaluate their potential success or failure for your company. If they feel to meet a specific bar based on solid, and well-defined sales competencies, then they may be slow to train. And they may be less likely to bring in the revenue needed.

Think about it:  How many of your current sales professionals will be moving on (retiring, promoting, or exiting) in the next 1-3 years? Is your recruiting capability up to speed on both the quantity and the quality demands of the future?
Top Sales Recruiting Questions to Ask in a Sales Interview

• What attracts you to this particular industry?
• What are your long-term career goals?
• How do you feel if you don’t make the sale?
• What are your techniques for getting past the secretary?
• Are you comfortable analyzing the client’s financial figures?
• How would you calculate the ROI for each sale?
• In your current or past experience, how do you qualify your prospects?
• What is the largest group of clients that you have given a presentation?
• What methods do you use to track your goals?
• What do you like and dislike about the products you are selling and why?
• What are your weakest and strongest selling points?
• What is the last class or seminar you took relating to sales?
• What experience and approach could you offer our organization?

Help Manage Priorities

Do You Help Your Sales Team Manage Priorities?

The added structure, processes, and tools you create can sometimes backfire. How? It can make each team member aware of how much time is being wasted.  They can begin to focus on the wrong things instead of the right things.

You have to be able to help your sales team members begin to respond to communication within the appropriate time frame, without even needing the clock in front of them.  You work should help them build tools and systems that will become a part of their daily routine, so more time can then be spent on making sales calls.

Time management considerations:

• How can you help your sales team increase productivity through a better use of time?
• Smaller time management issues can add up to big company losses.
• Better use of time will lead to more engaged sales team members
• Increasing awareness of non-productive actions each day will bring your team more into focus

Depending upon your sales force, and whether or not they are in the office or out in the field, each has their own technique in business to utilize their time more efficiently. Holding monthly meetings and asking your sales team for input will help provide you with a guideline and offer additional training and time-saving techniques for the whole team.