On-demand webinar
Inconsistent sales is usually a culture problem, not a people problem
What you’ll learn :
- The whiteboard test: could you write out your company's culture right now, and if you are not defining it, who is?
- Why accountability should be tied to the behaviours that produce results, not the results themselves
- What a CEO dashboard is missing when it only shows outcomes, and the leading measures to add
- Why promoting your best rep to sales manager can backfire, and what 80% of sales managers are missing
Speaker :
Frank Niekamp
Chief Growth Officer · USA
What's covered
Inside the session. Watch a clip, then get the full recording.
Inconsistent revenue is rarely about the economy or the competition. Barry draws on Peter Drucker and his time commanding soldiers, then asks the question of the session: could you walk to a whiteboard and write out your company's culture?
Hiring on instinct and glowing references cost Barry some of his biggest mistakes. The case for sales-specific scientific assessments over the gut, and why a wrong hire is often a million-dollar mistake.
What gets measured gets done, but a CRM only reflects what goes into it. Barry and Frank explain why expectations of behaviour must be defined, using elite military selection and a Super Bowl champion's view of reviewing performance.
Real-time visibility is not for micromanaging. Most dashboards only track results and profit; Frank describes a client that needed an average of 20 conversations with decision makers a month, and asks whether yours measures that.
Are your people wired for the roles they are in? A team full of farmers who manage existing business well will fall short if the plan is to take market share from competitors. That takes hunters.
Managers train and coach to your culture and are your eyes and ears in the market. Are they building the culture you want or just managing activity? Plus the dilemma of promoting a top rep who lacks the skills to lead.
Is one-on-one coaching happening weekly or quarterly? What happens when goals are missed? Why hiring only when a seat is empty leaves you unable to move when the market shifts.
Frank on reducing recruitment errors by becoming the place sales talent goes to be developed, and on the 10 to 20 seconds salespeople get to make a first impression.
Resources
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Frequently asked questions
Common Questions
The session argues that inconsistency usually is not a people problem. Most companies have made good hires. It is more often a culture problem: without clear expectations, a shared system and accountability, even good people do not perform consistently.
Use sales-specific scientific assessments rather than instinct or references; the presenters say behavioural assessments built for accounting or HR roles are not enough. SalesStar's assessments are described as about 92% accurate in predicting sales success. Frank adds that becoming an employer of choice, where talent knows it will be developed, also cuts recruitment errors.
For the behaviours that produce the results. The session says accountability breaks down when only the desired results are defined, not the expected behaviours. When sales teams become accountable to clearly defined processes, the presenters cite an average 19% revenue increase in the first 12 months.
Beyond results and profitability, leading measures such as how many conversations reps are having with actual decision makers. Frank's example is a smaller client that needed an average of at least 20 such conversations a month to hit its goal. Without those measures, a dashboard cannot support an accurate forecast.
Only if they have the skills to manage. Barry calls promoting a top rep without them a huge mistake, and moving them back later is seen as a downgrade. Frank cites research showing 80% of sales managers have a critical skill gap in coaching and developing their team.
Weekly. Barry cites data showing a 19 to 20% increase in performance when a rep is coached one on one each week, and asks CEOs whether those sessions are happening weekly or only quarterly.
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