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There are  two things that typically motivate a salesperson- money and personal success. (Personal success = achieving goals, positioning a product you admire in an industry you like, building personal and business relationships, Etc)

I will be touching on building successful relationships as the important aspect of personal success in this article.

Money

Most people assume that all salespeople are driven by money, and most salespeople say they are purely in it for the money (just to pound their chests and impress their boss).

Money is a big factor for sales, otherwise why would anyone put up with the daily grind of forecasting,  threats from management when the numbers are not met, getting down on your hands and knees begging for a deal, Etc.

Relationship Success

Many salespeople are in sales because they love the people aspect of it. They like to connect, build a relationship, add value and become a trusted advisor. They like to walk hand-in-hand with the client, bringing them the best advice and solutions available. Overall, they feel a great sense of accomplishment – it is a great feeling. There are great advantages to this as it builds loyalty and therefore better medium to long term business. And it builds friendship.

Money and Relationship Success

In many instances, salespeople are driven by both motivators. Is this the best of both worlds? Maybe.

In Conclusion

So, as much as many would like not to believe,  sales and salespeople are not all about money. And money may not be the best single factor for motivation because  there are alternative methods of obtaining money through commissions and bonuses without having to bury yourself with the company dogma and the personal quota pressure.

These alternative methods of obtaining money (and rewards) can be found through other personal drivers (or personal successes), which ultimately lead to sales and therefore commissions (=money).

But if it is all done right, then money can be one of  the many rewards.

Do you see or know of any other things that motivate salespeople?

Do you think it is best to be motivated by money or personal satisfaction or a combination of the two?

Please comment.

 (You may also be interested in Why Don’t Companies Focus More on Relationships?)

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

Dealing with Damage Control

Salespeople often feel at a loss when faced with disappointed, upset or angry clients. As an example, a relationship manager in banking dealing with a client whose investments have “soured” in the current economic climate.

What happens?

As a result of these situations, salespeople in general tend to stiffen and panic either on the phone or face to face. This state effectively shuts down the thinking processes and they find themselves lost for words. Just when the client is looking for calm understanding and reassurance, salespeople send signals of discomfort.

Suggestions

You want to enable your salespeople to feel confident about dealing with disappointed clients so that their demeanour is appropriate for the situation.

You want to equip your salespeople with the skills to respond to challenging situations so that clients feel confident about continuing to do business with your company.

Both of these aims work together: by knowing how to respond appropriately to clients, your salespeople will feel more confident and present a calmer, more professional demeanour; and by feeling more confident, they will automatically send the right signals to clients thus reassuring them about your company.

How to Implement the Suggestions

In order to build the confidence, the salespeople need to:

Build confidence in themselves by managing beliefs about:

Themselves (the salespeople) – how they see themselves is critical in achieving confidence.

Their clients – how the RM’s perceive their clients, especially during a downturn when clients are feeling negative towards their suppliers or advisors, also affects their level of confidence.

How salspeople’s clients perceive them – the salespeople’s beliefs about how their clients perceive themselves determines how confident the salespeople feel.

Deal effectively with disappointed clients by:

Responding to negative emotions in a client through pacing and leading. Pacing is done by showing your client that you accept and validate their emotion by mirroring them. Leading is the practice of gradually changing one’s energy level and behaviour such as slowing speech, speaking more softly and changing posture and body language.

Listening for understanding followed by listening to decide if you want to do anything about what you’ve heard. If action is required, a series of questions will be necessary.

Taking responsibility and moving ahead to solve the client’s problem(s). This includes the necessary empowerment and confidence to make the client feel comfortable.

Overall Results

The results below will occur if you take the above actions.

Clients will experience being handled professionally and appropriately during challenging times

Clients will feel sincerely listened to, understood and their emotions and disappointments acknowledged and taken seriously by your company and the salespeople

Salespeople will have a greater sense of empowerment and will therefore gain satisfaction from increasing their capabilities in challenging situations

Your company or financial institution will retain more clients and will receive positive word-of-mouth

Your company or financial institution will stand out in the marketplace for having salespeople who are highly professional

For more information see building and fostering client relationships.

For more blogs on a similar subject matter see relationship management.

James Irvine, Team Egyii, Singapore

Because salespeople are too “seller focused’ and not “client focused.”

When was the last time you spoke to someone in a social situation and all that person did was talk about himself? I,I, I…me,me, me..Etc. How boring- and self-centred was that encounter? Now transpose that situation into a business scenario- a conversation with a typical salesperson or business person. Features, features, features, our company can do this and that….so many “programmed” questions because the sales process requires it…Etc.

Salespeople (and business people) still tend to act very transactional, focusing on the task at hand, the numbers, the advance, Etc.  Business people tend not to listen or really care. This is  all about “me” and not about the client.

Focus on the client and not “me” or “us.” You will see a difference.

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

I met up with an Account Executive from one of my former employers the other day and she asked me, as we were parting, “Can you give me some tips on how to be successful in sales in my current position?”

I love these kind of questions where I am asked for advice.

I answered “Relationships and value.”

“The relationships with your internal support mechanism (your colleagues) and the relationships with your clients are the most important. Without either of them, you will not survive.”

Simple enough. But…

“Relationships are very important but you must also add value. Always be adding value.”

“With your colleagues, always understand what drives and motivates them. Know their “business.” Instead of asking for their help, ask how you can help them. You would be amazed how they change their perspective.”

“With your clients, always be adding value- know their business and environment, anticipate their problems and offer solutions. Become a trusted advisor.”

This would be my simple answer to anyone who asked me about success in sales.

Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

 Scenario

In today’s world, everyone is looking for the right “fix” for their business. Some examples of the fixes are:

The release of new products to fit the ‘mould” for today

Making price adjustments

Re-skilling the workforce to face today’s scenario

Or doing absolutely nothing…

All of these options have short to long term effects. So which option do we choose to make the most impact? Well doing absolutely nothing certainly stands on it own, so a combination of the others does makes the most sense.

But, if you were to prioritize, which one should be emphasized? I believe it should be your people, your front line. As your greatest asset, your client facing people can make the most memorable short, medium and long term impact in businesses.

So, from here on in, we will focus on your people.

This then leads to two big questions. Do we look at “short term” solutions and possibly sacrifice long term results? Or do we look at “medium to long term solutions” and sacrifice short term results?

These questions are not necessary. Why? Let’s build solutions for short, medium and long term results.

The Ultimate Problem

The problem is making the right decision in order to make the highest impact, and too many companies take the wrong perspective and make the wrong decision. What people think is the right decision for the solution is actually the short term, quick fix solution. Why are people choosing this route? Because it is the “easiest” option to implement and it is one that typically can be measured, so it appeases both management and shareholders as it (supposedly) brings in results now.

How are these employee based solutions implemented? Through:

Product and technical training

A new sales process or re-enforcement of an old process

Setting financial goals and measuring the behavioral targets to meet those goals (often done by micro managing)

But is the the best for the client? The one who is suffering the most? The one who actually pays the bills?

No.

Suggested Solutions

Financial organizations are “talking” trust, customer experience, customer centricity, client relationships and loyalty as the key solutions for the client, and therefore the solutions to many of the business problems. But very little is actually being done in these areas. It is all a lot of talk – blah blah blah marketing. Why? Because these require “soft skills” and are not “sexy.” Most businesses reach for “sexy” measurable fixes.

But because they are not “sexy” and mot measured, does this mean that you don’t get results?

No.

Let’s look at the facts. And let’s look at it holistically – in other words a programme that brings results across the  board.

Firstly, I suggest we take a realistic approach and look at how to deliver the right results. As Anthony Tjan, MD of The Cue Ball Group,  states “We too often focus on the desired financial performance target, rather than the inputs that drive those numbers…financial performance is a result, a by-product, a consequence of something else.”  Anthony  has written a very interesting approach to business results in his recent article in Harvard Business Publishing “The Fallacy of Financial Metrics.”

And now, let’s look at a few of the short, medium and long term results from implementing a few people focused programmes..

Loyalty. Loyalty programmes, which are a by product of client realtionships and customer expereince programmes, are very difficult to measure. The means of measurement would be similar to measuring soft skills training, in other words look at the numbers, the results. But numbers can be affected by too many variables (market swings, new product releases,  a change of the weather, Etc).

Frederick Reichold, who has made his entire 30+ year career studying customer loyalty, has measured loyalty and states in his book “The Ultimate Question,” that “A 5 percent increase in retention can equal to a twenty-five to one hundred percent increase in profitability.” Wow. What if the financial organizations had retianed more clients?

As for trust, trust is a hot topic now, from Harvard Business Review to Steven MR Covey. How do you measure trust? Again, very difficult but similar to how you would measure soft skills training and loyalty.

I recently asked Charles H. Green, of Trusted Advisor Associates and co-author of The Trusted Advisor (and a leader in the filed of trust and business) about how to respond to the constant request for short term solutions for immediate results. He responded by saying ” Short term results come from long term management. The best short term performance comes not from managing short term, but managing long term.” Enough said.

So, in summary, let’s re-adjust our attitude and look at employee/client focused programmes that can and do give a holistic solution- short, medium and long term. Although they may not be sexy, and can’t be measured with hard numbers, your greatest asset, your client facing people, can make the most memorable short, medium and long term impact in businesses by delivering upon these programmes. 

Let’s look at why the current economic fiasco happened in the first place. Wasn’t it a result of the push for immediate results? And what are we going to do, repeat what we have just done?

So forget the measurement. Focus on the client. Go with your gut.

For an abbreviated version, please see and download the following: Sizing Up Short to Long Term…

 Trip Allen, Team Egyii, Singapore

Your sense of identity determines how you interpret the downturn, how you interact with clients and colleagues, what you crave after…and so on.

So how do you identify yourself?

By the things you have? A fancy car?

By the things you do? A cool job?

By the people you associate with? One of the in-crowd?

By comparing yourself with others? A winner?

By the thoughts you have? I think, therefore I am?

By now it may just be dawning on you how limited these measurements are in defining your identity, and how much stress you give yourself by searching for yourself through them.

Once we all realise that we are just the person we are in every moment, and that we continually change from moment to moment, then we will stop our craving for more and enjoy being simply present.

So the next time you are in front of a client, forget about your sales target or your great expertise and just be there in your client’s world with them in that moment. Look at them. Hear them. And start building a truly authentic relationship.

James Irvine, Team Egyii, Singapore

It’s time for change.

No more pushing products and services at customers in an effort to meet monthly targets. No more macho, aggressive behaviour pushing employees for results without stopping to think about how to get them. And no more grandstanding about how the customer comes first without stopping to see the situation through your customer’s eyes rather than your organisation’s.

It’s time to step back. Nick Morgan, in his latest book Trust Me – Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma, tells us that being authentic in all our dealings with others is the secret of building trust and loyalty. And this starts not with actions, behaviour or words, but with intent.

If you’re trying too hard to be authentic, it means you’re thinking too much. You’re concentrating on how your are behaving and what you are saying. If you’re a company, you’re focusing on crafting the perfect message for the public or your employees. All these ‘up front’ actions will continue to fall on deaf ears if you don’t step back and reflect on your true intention in meeting a client or an employee, or in creating your company strategy.

It’s time for leaders, relationship managers and organisations to look inside themselves and connect with the higher cause that drives them personally and organisationally. Forget about your targets and the pressing need to win more business. Why are you doing this in the first place? What is it about you that you want to give to the world? Why was your company originally set up? What difference does it want to make?

Connect with your intent and the world will see you and your organisation as more authentic, patient and understanding. Only once you arrive at this place can you then begin to build your business based on integrity and trust. And in the new world of business that we must now enter, stepping back and addressing the fundamental issues of intent and authenticity is the only way to create the trust that leads to hard business results.

James Irvine and the Egyii team, Singapore