It’s January and for most organizations it’s the beginning of a new fiscal year. This usually means:
- A new sales quota
- An annual sales meeting and an awards dinner
Every sales representative knows that the New Year will bring a larger sales quota. For front line sales managers (FLSMs) this is an opportunity to lead, coach and motivate each member of their team.
Whether the sales meeting is viewed as worthwhile or worthless largely depends upon its context and execution.
New Sales Quota
When you analyze sales performance, it typically looks like a bell shaped curve. Usually 10-15% of the population are high and bottom performers while 70-80% are in the middle. Of those in the middle, some percentage makes plan while the others are below plan.
High performers will accept the new sales quota and figure out on their own how to make their number and exceed it. While they appreciate coaching or help on how to make their number they are largely bright, self-starters and strategic in their thought process. They know how to win.
Mid-Range Performers are where coaching can do wonders. These folks need to be coached to improved performance. They are close to making plan and need some guidance to get there. A good FLSM pinpoints which sales skills need improvement and works to help them.
One way to think about skill development for the sales representative is to view it as a “change process” that begins with their understanding of the skill and why the skill may produce the desirable outcome. The second step is for them to visualize what the behaviors look and sound like. The third step—perform–is for them to experience the skill: role play, practice and rehearsal of the essential behaviors under varied conditions. The fourth step is mastery. Mastery means developing a level of proficiency with the skill so that it has the desired effect when used.
FLSMs play a vital role in skill development as endorsers, teachers, coaches and re-enforcers of the skill. FLSMs also have the power to create a work environment that supports personal growth and adoption of new skills.
Bottom Performers are troublesome and can cost a FLSM his/her job. They contribute little to the revenue goal and, as a result, others in the sales organization must make up for their poor performance. Everyone can have a bad year but consistent poor performance or poor performance with little or no improvement probably signals that a change is required. Coaching this group is futile.
Annual Sales Meetings Worthwhile or Worthless?
The annual sales meeting typically has four (4) objectives:
- Communication, Affirmation & Motivation: The field sales force wants to see and interact with senior leadership and be apprised of the financial results of the organization. They want to hear the vison for growth. They need to understand that the company is well funded, profitable, growing and excited about the future. Senior leadership must instill confidence in the field sales force. This is usually done with a well-constructed PowerPoint presentation delivered by the CEO and VP Sales.
- Interaction: Senior leadership cannot be aloof and unavailable at sales meetings. In best of class sales organizations, senior leaders participate in delivered presentations, a Q & A session and participate in workshop discussions. They mingle during breaks, meals and company events. They are highly visible, accessible and interactive. The field sales force wants to know their company’s leaders are “tuned-in” to the needs of the sales force and its customers. They want the opportunity to ask questions and be heard.
- Skill Development: In many sales departments, a substantial percentage of sales representatives fail to meet their quota each year. In some sales organizations, it is a high percentage. For this reason the major portion of the sales meeting should be devoted to improving the sales skills of the field sales force.
Since you are supposed to be selling solutions and not products stop spending so much time on product knowledge. Yes, we know product knowledge is foundational and a requirement for sales success. Product knowledge can be learned in other ways: online learning, self-study, ride-alongs or in regional meetings.
The annual sales meeting should focus on skill development and this often requires specific sales training in call planning/execution, opportunity management, relationship management, funnel management, negotiation or value delivery to different buyer personas. Sales leaders should also spend time discussing best practices. This is best done as a presentation or a workshop delivered by your best performers. Average and poor performing sales representatives want to hear what their peers are doing to make President’s Club consistently.
When sales training is conducted, it should be done by trainers that have carried a bag and actually had to sell a product, service or solution and make a sales quota. It should not be done by marketing, training or HR personnel that have attended a sales training class and become certified to deliver the methodology. Sales representatives will only learn from and respect training that is delivered by someone that has walked in their shoes. Furthermore, the training must be experiential and tied directly to an upcoming sales call, a specific opportunity they are pursuing or an account plan. Sales representatives learn best when the training is experiential, interactive and directly applicable to their unique selling milieu.
- Recognition: Awards dinner are both motivational and uncomfortable. For those that made their sales quota or President’s Club it is rewarding and inspirational. They bask in the glow while receiving praise, adulation and awards for their performance. For those that don’t receive an award they put their game face on, appear interested and engaged, reflect on what could have been had they won one more major deal and then set their goal to be in the winner’s circle next year.
Parting Thoughts
Sales meetings are an opportunity for organizations to inspire and increase the skill set of their field sales force. They should be carefully designed so that every presentation and workshop fulfills this mission. They should resist providing information that could be conveyed in a podcast or webcast or presented in an online learning format. Above all, research has shown that learning is best achieved in small portions or chunks and then reinforced continuously and constantly.
